Mass Impact
by Xego204
Summary: This was the Mass effect universe, there was no other feasible explanation other then that someone had drugged me, or that I was dreaming. I almost never dreamed and I was never addicted to any kind of drugs, plus the fact that no one would've checked in on me after I was unconscious since I never had many close friends after I had fled my home country. I had to stop the Reapers.
1. Chapter 1: 13574

I was never really a decent person. I had a degree in computer science, but that hardly made a difference to who I was. They said I was a one of the best computer geeks there ever was. It never mattered to me, I used my skills in to do one most notorious computer crimes ever, hacking. I would take jobs from the highest bidder, I actually made a really good living, and my family thought I was a programmer, but I kept them away from what I did from all of my work. Or what was left of my family was possible that they were all dead by now, tracked down by them, the people I didn't even have a name for. The last time I'd talked to my mom was at least 4 years from now.

I was currently hacking through the Pentagon, the person who had hired me had paid me handsomely, it was greed that bought me into the job, that was my motive. I barely broke a sweat breaking through the firewalls of the so called best protected building in the world. I hoped it was really just me being a genius as if not, then America had really really weak security.

I managed to get to the file I needed to extract, it was heavily encrypted, it actually took real work for me to take down, around an hour, which by my standards was way too long. I didn't beat myself down though, I just was in it for the cash. After breaking through the file I looked over what was inside for such a heavy encryption.

It was insane, a weapon of mass destruction, a bomb that may as well have been able to level mountains. I sat there, stunned. My mouse was hovering over the upload button. Greed hung in the air like a thick blanket, making the room feeling hotter then it actually was, but that was metaphorical. I survey the room I was in, as if to distract me from what I was about to do. It was barren, grey concrete walls, the same story went for the ceiling and floor, my desk was barren of any items, besides my wallet and the ring I had been given by my family.

That's when I decided to screw everything, by clicking the mouse button I was giving the document over to some guy that probably had some nefarious purpose, this was worse then any of the jobs I had taken before, and I regretted it almost as soon as I started uploading, but I didn't stop it. Halfway through the upload something popped up, it was a small text box.

 _Security breach detected, engage Purge protocol 13574_

I attempted to override the command but it was thrice the strength of the encryption protecting the file in the first place. I started getting a overwhelming headache for no explainable reason too. I clutched my head in agony as the pain increased, when I looked at the screen it was completely white, before I could do anything else I inexplicably blacked out. The last thing I saw was my family ring which was pulsing with a soft blue light before I passed out.

"What the hell?" I woke up in a completely different place. I was in a small alley that was moderately dark. I got up with absolutely no idea where I was. I checked my phone in my pocket. The date was listed as June 21st, 2184. I immediately tried to call one of my friends, but my phone didn't have a signal for some reason and I lacked the ability to call without it. Stuffing the stupid thing into my back pocket I walked out of the alleyway to see if I really had traveled into the future.

And I almost had a panic attack in the middle of a normal day for other people as I surveyed the flying cars, futuristic buildings and fancy futuristic clothing that everyone was wearing, which seemed oddly familiar. Then something caught my eye, a bright orange hologram had popped up on someone's wrist, and then it dawned on me.

This was the Mass effect universe, there was no other feasible explanation other then that someone had drugged me, or that I was dreaming. I almost never dreamed and I was never addicted to any kind of drugs, plus the fact that no one would've checked in on me after I was unconscious since I never had many close friends after I had fled my home country and my family had never contacted me afterwards, so I doubted anyone had found me, much less drugged me either.

If this was the Mass effect universe then I had to stop the Reapers, and if this was 2184 then that meant that the Collectors had already killed Shepard and that he was currently being rebuilt, I had maybe 8 months to change everything, and I had to make that count, not just for myself, but for everyone else that deserved to live. If this was some Government experiment then...Well at that point I was so screwed anyway that I might as well play along.

...

It was purely luck that I managed to run into a pawn shop somewhat close to the alleyway where I found myself in, it looked very well off too, which was good since the stuff I was about to give up was probably worth a whole lot of credits, something I sorely needed in this world. I'd have to get an account first, but that would be suspicious, but money would do the talking, I get some money, then set up an account, and if anyone gave me an odd look then bribery would pull me through.

...

Putting all that money on a check was a great idea, especially since it was easy to hide, and I was likely to not get robbed if I concealed it in my leather jacket which I could definitely sell for more credits later, for now the 500,000 credits I had gotten for the ten 100 dollar bills I had in my wallet was sufficient. I didn't think they'd have that much dough, but I guess I was wrong. Now I'd need to cash this in and get a bank card, or whatever passed for that now anyway. I was glad the guy running the shop was too distracted by what I was offering either, as I would've been easy to track down if he wasn't distracted by the treasure that I was offering.

...

Setting up a bank account was easier then I thought, forward banking really pulled through for me this time, and the fact that it was all automated really saved my bacon. I cashed in my check almost instantly after I made it. The machine gave me a small card, and it actually hadn't changed much since the 2000s. It had my name, Tom Fisher, and a number in a fine print on the small chip. This was pretty similar to bank cards in my time, besides the fact that it was mostly just on a hologram, and the physical card was a tiny chip that could be inserted into an Omni-tool.

...

The next thing I proceeded to do was get an Omni-tool myself, which was easy, although the fact that the clerk gave me an odd look upon entering was definitely not good, but I still walked out with a top of the line Omni-tool with all the bells and whistles. It cost me around 700 credits, which normally would've been something to consider, but since my savings were ridiculous it didn't matter. I didn't even know half the stuff the clerk babbled on about, but it didn't matter, I'd adapt to all the new technology, I had time.

Upon exiting the store I was faced with a dilemma. It was getting dark out and I had no where to stay. Where the hell was I going to be able to stay the night?


	2. Chapter 2: Machinate

The small motel I had decided to stay the night at was much more pleasant then I thought it was. I guess cleaning was a lot cheaper in the future since everything was around hotel level clean. The only reason I was staying at the place instead of a regular hotel is because I needed to keep a low profile, my clothing made me stand out. I need to start learning about technology, it was 100 years in the future, so I'd have to relearn everything about hacking. Everything had changed.

...

After seeing a guide on the Extranet I managed to get a basic hacking program in effect, code would be too fast to type, so hackers relied upon programs to do it for them. I needed to test this in a safe environment, one where my ass wasn't on the line. I would at the very least need a place to stay for a couple months before joining Shepard, so I could store all my things. I'd need to adapt, and quickly, I only had 8 months, which wasn't a long time considering how much I had to learn. But I would adapt, I always did. Or I would end up rotting in a prison.

...

I found a small home near the outskirts of the city, it was small, not much better then my old house. It had a for sale sign, and an Omni-tool ID number. I figured that in the future you would call an ID number instead of a phone number because it was apparently 'more efficient.'

"Hello?" A younger voice asked on the other side of the line, someone who was in their late 20's.

"Hello, I'd like to buy your house, anything I need arranged?" I hoped there wasn't many strings attached, as I wouldn't be able to answer too many questions.

"Oh great! I can have it arranged now, the house will be 125,000 credits, I'll be there in a minute to finalize a payment." The 'call' went dead. This was significantly easier then I thought it would be, there should've been more questions. The man himself sounded absolutely giddy when I mentioned buying though, so that could've been why he didn't ask too many questions. I'd learned that curiosity could be lethal in my original line of work, so it made sense that he didn't want to dissuade a potential buyer.

I waited around 45 minutes, just tinkering with my omni-tool when a car parked near the road and the guy got out. He

"Are you the one who wanted the house?" He seemed stressed, there were dark circles under his eyes and he had lines of worry on his forehead. He himself kept a normal face however.

"Yes, I'll transfer the credits to you now." I activated my Omni-tool and sent all the credits to him, his Omni-tool pinged with a nice noise, indicating the payment was complete. He smiled.

He pressed a button and the electronic lock on my now new house pinged. "You can use your Omni-tool to unlock the door." He left without another word. This was odd, he barely spared me a second glance before he left, he just made sure the payment was finalized before he left, he must've been desperate for the money if he'd taken it from anybody, no questions asked.

The lack of paperwork was very surprising too, he could have at least asked me why I wanted the house or something, I guess everything is more convenient in the future. I stepped inside, it had a kitchen, a small living room, one bathroom and one bedroom. I need to get a desk, a computer, and a bed at the very least. I wouldn't need much, I would be doing a lot more on the Normandy anyway. It seemed like a pretty nice house, despite being small, some people would consider it too small, but I could care less about such commodities.

...

It was around midday when I had a desk and a computer setup. I was really hungry from all the lifting though. I found a local restaurant and order a burger, I just needed something to tide me over. I looked around, Earth was beautiful, they really didn't credit it in the games, I hope that Earth won't be too badly damaged after the Reaper war, but that's just wishful thinking.

I had a very simple plan on how to get on the Normandy. In the second game TIM, the Illusive man would give Shepard info and the location of the people worthy of being recruited. I planned to get on that list. I had to build a reputation for myself, enough that it would get his attention. It sounded simple and easy at best, but the chances of the Illusive man picking me were very slim.

...

I groaned, I was very tired after lifting the bed frame into my room, the mattress was even harder, but I didn't regret it now as I sat down on the bed. I had everything I would need to start off. A bed, a computer, a credit chit and an Omni-tool. I was going to get as much info through hacking as I could. I could already start hacking, it was just a matter of resources.

It was a good while before I actually got a decent hacking program, it was harder then I thought, programming algorithms and such. But after a while I finished it, triumphantly. It was late by the time I finished it, and I was too tired to go get dinner, so I just lay down on the bed and slept deeply.

...

I always enjoyed waking up, it reminded me of a fresh start. I slept with all my clothes on, which made me realize something. I forgotten about several flaws in my plans. First, I needed to be really good at combat for the Illusive man to even consider me, and secondly, I was still wearing my old clothing. I needed to fit in so that I didn't stick out like a sore thumb. I ate breakfast at a restaurant close by and left the house, looking for a clothing store or something similar.

...

Clothing from the future was comfortable in a strange way, the fact that I was wearing a onsie made it a lot stranger, but I wasn't getting odd looks from people anymore, so it was well worth the change. My next order of business was to get guns of some sort, and was something I couldn't just buy, not without a permit, and I didn't want to increase my digital footprint by getting one, plus the fact that there weren't many questions I could ask without getting an odd look, especially since I had no ID or anything of that sort here, I doubt my driver's license from 1995 would be sufficient.

Hacking would solve all of that though, all I had to do was find out any illegal weapon suppliers in the area and steal a couple of their guns, they wouldn't mind would they? An anonymous tip afterwards would help too, just because I'd rather those weapons not be used to kill more innocent people. The Reapers were already going to be dishing out enough bloodshed.


	3. Chapter 3: Catechize

Finding an arms dealer was tricky, considering that they usually didn't just annouce that they were selling guns and that you didn't have to be 18 to get them. Finding them was hard. Getting them was harder. Back in the old days they would annouce where they were at on the dark web, which made everything far too easy, I'd have to do some digging to see if there was something similar here.

...

After around an hour of searching through the darker side of the extranet that I managed to find the Blue suns page, which was founded by humans and pretty much 100% likely to be smuggling arms illegally, most of it would probably be to Omega, but I bet I could find someone trying to smuggle some Earth-made weapons off word. The site was mostly locked, but after 20 minutes of hacking I managed to get through, I didn't feel good about taking that long to hack something as trivial as a website, but I was just beginning, so that was a given.

I found a forum on the site with a user named Vinny5234 mentioning that he'd been gathering some guns to trade and that he could work something out with a Blue Suns commander. The commander had agreed, asking for a location. Easy peasy information right there, this would probably get a favor with the Shadow Broker if I decided to share, but I'd rather not, until Liara became the new one the yahg could go screw himself.

I got to the place relatively quickly, the coordinates were to an old junkyard that looked abandoned, but it was likely that he was setting up shop inside or his base was on the far side of the yard. My assumption was right, there was an old shack with some suspiciously non-rusty sleek black boxes next to it, this was definitely the place. They were password locked, I'd need to get the codes from the man himself, there was no time to hack right now.

I approached slowly, not willing to make any noise, I didn't have any weapons on me so I'd have to get one otherwise I'd probably be toast.

"Vincent I told you, I'm only offering 100,000 credits for the equipment you have." The Blue Suns Commander said. Vincent growled in frustration.

"These supplies are worth more then that! Give me 200,000 or the deal's off."

"Fine, but don't push your luck." The line went dead.

I manually cut off the call, but Vincent was way too stupid to see the connection error message on screen. While he was distracted I had grabbed a heavy pistol from the table behind him. I called out to him.

"Turn around, slowly." I said, putting the best commanding tone in my voice that I could muster. It wasn't the best, but I knew it would likely be enough.

"Who the hell are you?! How did you find me?!" Vincent was looking around like a cornered animal.

"Someone who's decided that you are about to lose a couple of your guns, give me the code to access the boxes of munitions in the back or I'll blow your head off."

He spat. "If I did that my ass would be on the line, these weapons are top of the line, and if I lose any of them the value drops significantly, I'd rather not lose my head by giving you some."

My voice was cold as ice. "You'll lose it earlier if I don't get the answer, and don't forget you're in no position to argue." I shot him in the knee

"Fuck you, Fucker! I'll never tell you!" He was getting really mad at this point.

"Wrong answer." Another shot, this time to the shoulder.

He screamed in pain, this was brutal for him. "Fine! Please! The code is 13553, please let me leave now!" He said in pain.

"That wasn't so hard now, wasn't it? Now let's make sure you're not following me anywhere." I punched his lights out. He'd be out for a good while.

The cargo had much more equipment then I thought, it had several full sets of very high quality armor and enough weapons that equaled a black market dealer's top shelf. I took one set of infiltrator armor equal to N7 capability, and then I decided to take a M-5 Phalanx, an M98 Widow which seemed to be modified with several kinetic dampeners, and an M96 Mattock.

I was impressed by his selection of weapons, those weapons in the actual game were usually really rare or required DLC, fortunately for me there wasn't any restriction. Before I left I cut off the power to Vincent's little shack before taking Rapid transit and getting out of there, the police were about to get a huge tip that there was illegal arms smuggling out there.

Vincent awoke handcuff to a table with no windows and a two way mirror. A police sergeant walked in and sat across from him. "Sir, do you know do you know why you're here?"

"I bloody know why I'm here, some guy raided my junkyard, interrogated me and tipped you off, that fucker." Vincent growled.

"Ah yes, that was some admirable work, but let me ask you this, who were those arms going to Vincent?" he groaned, The Blue Suns were going to grind his ass after this.

I made it home with much more gear then I expected, this armor would be a lifesaver in a lot of situations, I need to know had to use it, and I had to be good with these guns too, that's why I specifically took only the semi-auto or bolt action weapons. I hated fully automatic weapons in 2014, this was no different. I had a lot of experience with semi-auto weapons as well. I also got a ton of thermal clips, just so I wouldn't be out of ammo for a while.

...

I finally worked out how to load a thermal clip into my weaponry, it looked a lot simpler in the the game then actually doing it. It involved inserting a certain amount of thermal clips into the gun, then either re cocking it or pressing a button to eject a clip when it over heated. The Widow was the easiest to reload as you just had to work the bolt. I sighed, now I had to figure out how the cloak worked on the armor, and that wouldn't be fun.


	4. Chapter 4: Susceptible

_2 months later_

I sat on chair, taking the time to think about what had happened this past month before I continued with my objective. I have been here for a while now, it almost seemed normal. My phone battery finally died, and so did my one guide on the Mass Effect games, I hope I had studied it well enough. I was a vigilante at this point. No one knew who I was. They called me the Ghost.

Tech powers were hard to learn, but they paid off in the long run, the cooldown was small considering my Omni-tool was top of the line, so I found that I could use a lot of powers in quick succession. Incinerate, Cryo Blast, Overload, and Tactical Cloak were what I specialized in. I was significantly better at hacking now then when I was when I had stolen my gear, now I had a much better hacking program. At the moment I was hacking my way through the Alliance network, and then I finally found what I was looking for.

After around an hour of digging through their database I found Shepard's service record and started reading through. He was a Spacer, born on a military ship. He had the war hero background, and he had the default male Shepard look. He was a soldier, and some of his reports on missions were normal, and seemed to indicate that he was a paragon, but he didn't take shit from anyone.

I withdrew from Alliance systems, making sure nothing would show if anyone checked, just in case. I didn't hack for the highest bidder now, I just had some vigilante justice to appease myself. It felt better doing good things, I never really was a good person in my old life, I guess now is the best time to turn it around. That was when something red appeared on my screen and I immediately started rapidly tapping on the keyboard.

 _Trace detected, execute cut off_

I quickly started multiple command programs with the sole purpose to kill that trace. My strategy was to find the source and then cut off their access through either admin commands or through destroying their network access. The latter didn't work anymore thanks to future technology, but the commands seemed to be working, that was before the trace started auto correcting after the commands were executed, which was not good.

I'd been challenged by other people before, but not like this. White hat hackers were good at their job, but usually it wasn't enough. This was different, I was actually in a losing fight. Not much longer and the trace would have a location.

If they could trace me, then I'd trace them back since this was my only option. Tracing a trace was a little weird, but was often unexpected. It was working too, and I knew the other hacker hadn't expected this, since they hadn't put up much to guard against it. There were two firewalls, but they were broken quickly.

My trace located the hacker, it was in Noveria, Horse Head Nebula. The idea that Cerberus could be hacking me was a terrifying thought, especially since this might not be a recruiting drive considering that Shepard wasn't alive yet. The trace then found me a more precise location, which would allow me to find out really who was doing all this. At the same time their trace had found me, so my cover was absolutely blown.

The trace came from the hot labs, which was odd considering how dangerous the lab was in the game, and the fact that a neutron purge had ravaged the place it was surprising that there was any intact hardware at all. I had to give this guy credit, he was good, especially with limited resources, at least from what I could discern.

There were around 13 cameras in the hot labs and they cover around like 99% of the facility from what I could see, I would locate this guy eventually, he couldn't hide forever, and then I could act accordingly, either with violence, or getting the fuck out. It was the 9th camera where I found the hacker, and I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding, but it was still admittedly somewhat surprising.

It was a Geth, a Geth! No wonder the machine had been able to trace me, the simple fact that it WAS a machine was evidence enough how I was traced. I knew it wouldn't alert the authorities on Earth because they wouldn't believe the thing if it did anyway, so that was a welcome relief, but it was a little concerning that it might try something.

It hadn't tried to gain root access, so that was good, but upon closer examination I realized there was something different, this wasn't a homicidal one like all the others, it had some on it's left shoulder, something that made me gape.

It was a broken piece of N7 armor.


	5. Chapter 5: Allegory

My mind raced with questions as I looked at the machine. Why was he contacting me? How did he find me? Did I do something wrong? I knew sitting there and doing nothing wouldn't help, I decided to be bold. Although that was an odd course of action this entire situation was a little off. I initiated first contact.

"You're... you're a Geth right?" I knew how to act, it was something I'd developed as a hobby, I could fake almost any emotion, and although I didn't enjoy it, I could lie incredibly easily, to the point where no one could the difference between a lie and the truth when talking to me.

"This is a correct inquiry."

"What do you want with me? From what I've seen all Geth are homicidal robots that murder everything in sight."

"Those Geth are known as the heretics, they wanted the Old Machines to build them a future, they are no longer part of our consensus."

"What do you mean by Old Machines?"

"You would refer to the Old Machines as 'Reapers' the name of the advanced machine race is irrelevant, considering that they have yet to form their own name."

"So the heretics actually worship the Reapers? How many Geth are part of this group?"

"Approximately 10% of Geth decided to join the Old Machines, the rest of Geth believe that each species should choose it's own future, the heretics asked the Old Machines to give them a future."

"Okay, that makes sense, but that doesn't explain why you decided to trace me, I'm assuming you didn't just hack me to give me a speech on how most of the Geth aren't homicidal, right?"

"Some Geth monitor the communications of Organics on what you refer to as the 'Extranet' we noticed you gathering information on Shepard-Commander."

"So you were curious as to why I was looking up Commander Shepard by hacking into Alliance databases."

"Yes." It was impressive he knew, I tried to make sure I left nothing behind in the databases to indicate anyone had been poking around, I guess I was a little sloppy. I mentally chided myself for this.

"If you know anything about the Citadel Council, you would know they doubt the existance of the Old Machines, correct?"

"Based on preliminary evidence, this is true, based on several recordings in the Citadel tower."

"Yeah, well most people would agree with the Council, but let's just say that I'm one of the people that thinks the threat of the Reapers is real enough, and I feel like Shepard is going to need all the help he can get."

...

Over the next week Legion showed me a couple of really neat tricks that would make my hacking skill more efficient and more potent. He even showed me how to use the sudo command he used in his loyalty mission which was really really nice. I was surprised at how good he was, but I shouldn't have been, the Geth were much better hackers in general. In turn I started telling him about Shepard.

"After defeating Nazara as you call it Shepard was sent out to find and destroy pockets of the heretics. Soon after his ship, the Normandy was destroyed by an unknown ship. He is dead, or in other words, non-functional." I didn't give Legion a chance to dwell on that. "But Cerberus, a human organization is rebuilding him as we speak."

"What is the estimated time that he will begin functioning again?"

"5 months from now, galactic standard time."

"We appreciate the exchange of data."

"Wait! Before you go I need to give you a name, something to make you different then the rest of the Geth." Thinking about him as Legion was a little odd when he didn't actually have that title yet, I had to stop myself from saying that name a couple times out loud.

"Geth."

"No no, this is an organic thing, let's just give you a metaphor for a name that would still mean something similar to Geth, like...I've got, what about Legion?"

"Christian bible, book of Mark, chapter 9, verse 5: "My name is Legion," He replied, "for we are many."

"We accept this as an appropriate metaphor."

...

The Blue Suns were definitely doing some illegal arms trade in here, considering that the guards appeared to be packing heavy duty munitions. I hacked the building and cut power to it, and then I engaged my tactical cloak and walked through the main area. I stabbed two unsuspecting guards in the back, both of them were half asleep. I heard someone running down the stairs, and I quickly turned and shot the man in the face.

I knew it would make the other guards more alert due to the loud gunshot, but it barely mattered. On the second floor there was a corridor and 4 doors, 2 on each side. In the first room there was no one there, but it had a lot of sticky notes on the wall talking about the supplier and the dealer, the police were going to have a field day with this.

In the next room were two guards trying to fix the generator that had stopped working. My cloak had fizzled out so I had to rely on stealth to dispatch them. One guy died of an unfortunate stab wound to the neck from an Omni-blade. That's when the generator kicked back online and the other guard saw me. I quickly raised my heavy pistol and shot him in the head.

I quickly engaged my cloak again since it had finished recharging and and walked into the third room where the door was hanging open slightly. There was no one there, just a bunch of crates where all the weapons were, I stocked up on thermal clips before leaving. Then I advanced onto the final room where one man was sitting at a table working on a computer. He seemed to be typing frantically, he was sweating.

I looked around his room, there was no weapons I could see. I disengaged my cloak.

"Looks like you're the only one left." I said, observing the position he was in.

He quickly pulled out a pistol he had concealed behind the desk and aimed it at me.

"You're dead now." He said simply before emptying the whole clip on me. The last bullet in the clip broke my shields, but he had to reload, by the time he was done reloading there was a bullet in his head, killing him instantly. I left the area, the police were about to get an anonymous tip that would screw over a lot of illegal weapons trade in this area for at least a month.


	6. Chapter 6: Epoch

"Commander Shepard has been recovered, the Lazarus project will proceed as planned."

Everyone rushed to their stations as the instructions were given out. This message had just raised the morale of half the people on the station. A lot of people had their doubts, but the higher up scientists knew what Cerberus was capable of. Wilson sighed, they were all assholes, especially Miranda. The only real reason he was doing this was because of the pay.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"This is the 6th time you've been here this week." The clerk said, suspicious. I already had a solution to that though, I knew this guy was greedy.

"20 credits say I'm a new person you've just met."

"Of course sir, go right on in." He opened the door to the shooting range.

Bribery was dirty, but I had to do it, I'd rather him not report me to anyone as I didn't want to answer anymore questions. I didn't enjoy doing it, but it was necessary if I didn't want to be questioned by anyone, and I could do much else to dissuade the guy from getting more suspicious.

At least it was enough to pay the bills, for the small amount of money that costed me. I was a decent marksmen, my dad had taught me how to shoot one when I was 8 years old, that was a long time ago, those memories were faded, and I could hardly remember his voice anymore, it didn't help that he was killed by them when I was 11 years old.

My entire family was probably gone by now, those people. I never managed to find out who they were, or what they wanted, I knew my dad was a bad person, he was some sort of criminal mastermind or something, but seriously, what did he do that warrented killing him and his whole family? But they failed, I was still alive, and I planned to stay that way, I had to keep moving forward.

I still didn't understand why Legion wanted to meet me in particular, there was probably someone else out there with a higher chance of meeting Shepard, but when I inquired all I got was 'no data available' figures. He said the same thing if you pressed him about why he didn't repair his shoulder with a piece of metal earlier and instead chose a part of Shepard's armor specifically.

He was attached to Shepard, I bet he saw him as someone to look up to, just because he beat the odds. Hell, I'd probably want to follow him into hell itself after the suicide mission. He was a natural leader, and a good one at that. If anything, Legion probably saw him as an 'efficient organic' if nothing else for beating the odds.

I always liked the fact that you never had to pay for transportation anymore. Rapid transit took care of it all. I stepped out of the car and enter my house. This place would soon be discarded for several months as I traveled around with Shepard. It made me wonder, when was I going to get recruited? Was I going to be in the second or first set of dossiers? I could only hope for the first set, that would make it easier for me to get settled in.

 _A week later_

It's been a week, the 8th month is in two days, and I can only hope that my assumption was correct. I looked at my armor, which still looked suspiciously like an N7 Shadow's armor, just a bit thicker. I had overload upgraded to chain to two other enemies and my incinerate would absolutely destroy one guy, melting armor effortlessly. And I could cloak for a very long time, longer then I remember being able to in game, but there was no damage boost when breaking from cloak, which is to be expected.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Miranda?" Wilson looked exasperated "but you wer-" Miranda shot Wilson, killing him instantly.

"Dead?" Miranda looked down.

"What the hell are you doing!?" Jacob looked surprised.

"My job, Wilson betrayed us all.''

''I knew he was a traitor, but now we can't question him." Shepard looked annoyed.

"It doesn't matter, Shepard we need to get off this station, my boss wants to speak to you."

"You mean the Illusive man? I know you work for Cerberus."

I watched the ending part of the first mission from Mass Effect 2. It brought back so much nostalgia. I watched the three exit the station through a shuttle, leaving the station behind. I guess my estimate was almost correct, it was still a little off, but whatever. I wouldn't hack into the next station though, I couldn't have the Illusive man, or TIM getting suspicious.

I could only hope that the Illusive man had picked me, I had done a good job of causing a ruckus in the Merc operations around Earth, Blue suns was very pissed at me, just like I wanted them to be. I think that was enough to get Timmy boy there to notice me, too bad I would be give Shepard a little 'tip' when the third game came around to storm his base early. Now I just had to keep doing what I was doing to get Shepard to come to me.


	7. Chapter 7: Selectee

"Shepard, I've got a lead on someone who would help you in the fight against the Collectors." The Illusive man was looking at a dossier.

"Hit me."

"He's a vigilante that has no name, but he's been considerably effective in disrupting illegal arms trade on Earth. I've gotten a tip from one of my sources on his next target."

"How good is he at what he does?"

"He's an expert at infiltration and hacking, but we've barely got any information on him besides that, which is impressive considering the reach of my organization, he's going to be targeting a Blue Suns Commander in a stronghold on Earth, there's not much more information I have on him."

"Why does this warrant a private conversation with you? Everyone else you just threw the dossiers at me and told me to go get them, what's so special about this guy?"

"The reason is due to our limited knowledge on him, I wanted you to know in person that outside of capabilities we know next to nothing about him, and that warrants a warning from me, as we don't know any of his motives."

"I'll handle it, send me the coordinates and I'll find him."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Infiltrating a building was much harder then in looked in those fancy action movies. I was currently waiting for a guard to exit the room my ventilation shaft was at so I could enter the room. That's when he got a call on his Omni-tool and left. I exited the shaft quickly and quietly dashed to keep the door open so that no one would hear it open again.

I was on a lower floor. It would be tricky to enter from a higher floor without someone seeing my car, so I had to enter from the second floor. I was being careful at the moment because there were still guards in several rooms and I couldn't take them all, eventually one of them would take a look at one of the rooms and find a dead guy, and I couldn't risk an alarm. My cloak wouldn't muffle every sound I made so I made sure to walk as quietly as I could. I'd do this by avoiding them, not fighting them this time.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Shepard surveyed the area, the walls were riddled with gunshots, dead guards and a couple walls were burnt from several incinerate attacks that Mordin had used to kill a couple guards.

"Area is secure." Garrus said before he lowered his sniper rifle.

"Yeah, that was a rough fight, but we got them anyway, how are you three holding up?"

"Ready for anything." Garrus replied earnestly

"Ready for the next floor, Commander." Miranda said, all business.

"All vitals normal, am fine myself." Mordin responded.

"That's good, let's get going, we'll confront this Commander guy and hopefully this guy makes a show." Shepard pressed the call button on the elevator.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

No one was in the hallway when I exited the elevator, luck was on my side. There was a couple rooms to the left and right and one at the other side of the hallway. Suddenly the door burst open to reveal a small squad of Blue Suns troops that moved to secure the room. I was premtively cloaked when I heard the footsteps so they didn't see me as they entered the hallway.

"Someone decimated security on the lower level, our orders are to stop them from getting out of that elevator, is that clear!?" A legionnaire shouted.

There was a muffled "sir yes sir!" After I slipped past them and entered the door they had exited from before it closed, they were about to be destroyed by Shepard and I couldn't risk sticking around, I didn't want my cloak to catch a stray bullet which would reveal me. I had entered another hallway, but this one turned off to the right where two guards were posted at a door, this was definitely the room where Big boss was at. I couldn't just waltz into the door without them noticing it opening, I'd have to cut the lights.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The lights cut for a second as Shepard and co. arrived at the top floor. There was silence as they turned back online and everyone seized each other up. Then the shooting started. Shepard's squad had reacted first and had started peppering the Blue Suns squad with bullets. Anyone who survived the first volley started shooting as well, but they were eventually slaughtered by Shepard and co.'s superior marksmanship and combat strength.

"We're clear people, move forward." Shepard said.

The next hallway had an interesting view, there were two dead guards, both of their necks had been slit, and it didn't look like they had given resistance.

"Jugular ruptured, likely intended target." Mordin examined.

"That's pretty brutal, looks like the work of an Omni-blade." Shepard said as he looked closer.

"You think that when the lights cut out is when he made his move?" Garrus asked.

"Likely, but this is something I'd only expect from a professional assassin, not a vigilante." Miranda said.

"Let's confront whoever's in the room."

Tom watched as they breached the room and confronted the very alive Blue Suns Commander.

"Who the hell are you people?!" The Commander said testily. He was human, male.

"I was just here to complain that the coffee machine is broken down in reception, can you fix that? I could really go for one right now." Shepard replied sarcastically.

"Do you really think I'd be incompetent enough to think that's your real answer? Cut the bullshit and tell me what's going on, right now?"

"Well I-" The power went out, bathing the windowless room in darkness.

"What the hell? I-" He was cut off abruptly, the guards starting lighting up the room with their guns, but both of them were silenced methodically, one at a time, when the lights came back on again every single guard in the room was dead, and the Blue Suns Commander was on his knees. Someone was behind him with a gun. The Commander was executed soon after the lights came back online.

"Hello there, Shepard, it's a pleasure to finally meet you." His voice was emotionless.

"Do I know you?" Shepard asked, somewhat perturbed by the execution that had just happened.

"No you don't, but I have extensive information on you, it's interesting to meet someone back from the dead, I knew Cerberus was planning something."

"Why are so interested in me?" Shepard was clear put off by this guy's attitude.

"Let's put it this way, I've been watching your warnings on the Reapers, and unlike the blind fools on the Council I believe that they're coming, and I believe I can help you stop them."

"Well, welcome aboard, I'll get us an exit."

...

"Welcome aboard the Normandy, I'm Shepard, you'll be following my orders, is that clear?"

"Yes Commander, I believe it's time I introduced myself." Tom took off his helmet. "My name is Tom, it's a pleasure to meet you in person, Shepard."

"The pleasure is mine, thank you for joining us, we'll be stopping a race known as the Collectors, they've been abducting human colonists out in the Terminus systems."

"I've noticed the disappearances of them, it'll be good to finally fight someone who's doing something really bad, now that the introduction is over, where can I store my armor?"

"I'll get Jacob, he can show you the armory."


	8. Chapter 8: Cagey

"You really didn't skimp out on your firearms did you?" Jacob was examining my M-98 Widow.

"I like to be prepared for heavily armored targets, that way I don't need to worry when someone's packing heavy armor."

"Well, that's one way to look at it, where'd you get this thing? This thing has advanced kinetic dampeners and extreme recoil reduction."

"I'll put it this way, it's better that you don't know, I think I'll find somewhere to post up now, anywhere where I can access the main Cyber warfare suites?" I hated acting like this, but it was the only way.

"The bridge has access to all of that, the co-pilot seat especially, you can set up there, try not to steal any information though."

"If I wanted to I'd make sure none of you noticed, but we have bigger concerns at the moment, namely the Reapers, tell Shepard I set up shop there if he asks."

"You got it."

...

I walked into the bridge with hope that I could make a good first impression on Joker.

"Aren't you that vigilante guy?"

"That would be me, my name's Tom, and I'm going to be sitting right next to you for the remainder of this mission, so try not to piss me off."

"How could you even help me pilot this baby? I already have it all under control, I don't need anyone's help."

"You know, I don't have any of that skill, none of it at all, but you want to know what I am good at, and what I can say with utmost confidence that I'd be better then you at?" He nodded impatiently.

"Hacking and systems intrusion, something which I have perfected to what some would call an art, so don't piss me off, I can find where you live..." I left that statement lingering in the air for a second before immediately switching to something more useful. "All of that aside, can you get me access to your Cyber warfare suite?"

"And why would I want you in our only thing keeping you from controlling the ship?"

"Simply because it takes one to know one, I can improve your Cyber warfare suites to a level your current AI couldn't do independently."

...

"This is pitiful." I frowned.

"What is it?"

"I've found at most 9 different ways an attacker could break into the Normandy, 5 of which EDI could compensate for and prevent, but the other 4 would allow easy access to any persistent hacker, I'll be sure to patch that up."

"You're just saying that to make me afraid." He seemed unimpressed. I'd show him, I didn't actually have access to this yet, even though I knew I could gain it if absolutely necessary.

"Really? It says here that you have an extensive Fornax coll-"

"Never mind! You're good, you're patching that up right?"

"I'm doing it right now, you should be glad to have me on your side."

He mumbled something about an old movie that had something to do with hackers.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Miranda was pacing around the room. She was in rare form today, I've never seen her worried like this before. It was good to see that she was person behind that all business persona the crew knew as my CO.

"Look, I have concerns about our newest crew member, Tom."

"What? You worried he's going to hack into Cerberus? You obviously don't have enough confidence in my leadership abilities."

"Shepard, look, I know you trust him, but I don't, he's a hacker of unparalleled skill, something I've never seen even after all my time in Cerberus, Joker gave him access to our Cyber warfare suites and that isn't good."

"If he wanted access to our information I'm sure he'd have it, and we'd probably not be able to stop him, worst case scenario we have to lock him up in a makeshift brig, you should calm down."

"Worse case scenario, we gun him down, if he gets access to Cerberus resources then I'm going to have to kill him, it's my job."

"Relax Miranda, from the way you're talking you'd think he's good at hacking and shooting at the same time, I'll have EDI watch him, but I doubt he's going to cause any trouble, you really must have calm yourself, I'll handle it if things get out of control with him.'

"Fine, but if he gets anything from classified Cerberus resources please know I won't hesitate to gun him down."

...

"Garrus, Tom and Miranda please report to the shuttle bay, we're picking up Jake from the prison ship."

"Look's like its your turn, Tom." Joker observed.

"Don't worry about it, I'm pretty skilled in combat as is, I'll be back alive in no time."

I grabbed my weapons and suited up and got to the elevator. It was fairly crowded with Miranda, myself and Garrus all crowded in the same place.

"So, you're Tom?" Garrus asked, clearly curious to see the man behind the armor that cover my entire body.

"That's me, Illusive Man figured I'd probably be useful, considering my experience in hacking and infiltration."

"What'd you do to get on board?"

"Eh, killed a load of Blue Suns, mainly because they killed my whole family, it was interesting meeting Shepard."

"Why did you join so willfully?"

"I always believed Shepard was right about the Reapers, I always knew there was someone out to get me, or everyone else, if anything it's better to prepare for and expect the worse if this is all nonsense."

Throughout the entire conversation Tom noticed that Miranda was watching him like a hawk.

...

"As this is a high security vessel we will be required to take your weapons, they will be returned on your way out." The guard finished.

We all grabbed our weapons "I can give you one bullet, where do you want it?" Shepard said menacingly.

"Guards stand down, Shepard this is my ship, your weapons will be returned on the way out, this is standard policy." Warden Kuril said calmly. This was probably a normal occurrence for something like this. It was a prison ship after all.

"It's my policy to keep my gun."

They stared at each other for a second before the Warden caved.

"Let them proceed, this facility is more then secure enough to handle three armed guests."

...

"I'll catch up with you later, Shepard." The Warden walked down another hallway.

As we walked down the hallway past the supermax wing I said quietly to Shepard:

"This is the kind of crap that made me want to disrupt them."

"I think I can see why now." Shepard said as we walked into the room where Jack was supposed to be. This was it, where all the shooting started.

Hell was about to break lose, and I'd better be prepared for it.


	9. Chapter 9: Acerbity

"Drop your weapons and proceed into the open cell, you won't be harmed." The Warden's voice rang over the loudspeaker.

"Go to hell." Was all Shepard said.

"Activate systems!"

I overloaded the first engineer in the room and Garrus sniped him in the face. Then a couple mechs stormed the room, only to be hacked by yours truly. They distracted the guards in the other room while Shepard and Garrus rained bullets on their position. We advanced down the hallway and got into a skirmish near the room where Jack really was.

Miranda warped a guard and then I incinerated him, he died slowly. Then I shot another guard with my Mattock while Shepard scored three perfect head shots in a row. Figures, he'd probably invested in adrenaline rush.

I started reloading as the door opened and then stared down the barrel of the only engineer in the room.

"Look out!" Shepard shouted before shoving me to the side and putting another headshot into the guy at the terminal.

"I stand corrected." Was the first thing I said.

"Yeah yeah, now you can rub it in, they did start shooting us, prepare to flip them the bird." Shepard said.

I flipped the dead engineer the bird. "Well, considering that they hate both myself and Tom this should've been expected."

"Well, we'll kill them all and leave with Jack, I'm opening the cell door so that she can get out." Shepard tapped a couple buttons, opening the cryostasis chamber in which Jack was situated in.

"That's Jack?" Miranda's tone held a hint of digust and surprise, she hadn't expected the Illusive Man to hire someone like this.

I always thought it was sad how in the game Jack can't do what she does in her opening cut scene, taking out three heavy mechs would be awesome if she could do it whenever you ordered her to.

We watched her trash the three heavy mechs and then proceed to break through two bulkheads and wreck havoc throughout the station.

"Anyone think Jack might be a little crazy?" I asked as I sniped a merc while on a small walkway.

"Well, I need the best, even if she is crazy she's the best biotic I've ever seen." Shepard punched a merc in the face.

I opened the next door, making sure to check for hostiles.

"I'm beginning to question when the Illusive Man decided she was worthy of being recruited." Miranda said.

"Looks like she's been experimented on, maybe that's why she's crazy." Garrus said.

"Enemy fire, get to cover!" Shepard shouted before sliding to a place for cover.

I activated my cloak and walked up to where they were at and stabbed one of them. Garrus quickly sniped the other with a perfect headshot. We were wearing their reinforcements down, we were getting close to the Warden now.

"Nice shot!" I shouted over comms while running to take cover against a heavy mech.

"Tom see if you can hack that mech, its got us pinned down!" Shepard put a couple rounds into it, but the damage was minimal at best.

"Focus on the remaining mercs while I hack it!"

I started the download, the bar being filled up painstakingly slowly. "Come on, come on!" The hacking program slowly started it's intrusion. It took a while before I finally managed to break it, but it's hard to hack something when someone else is shooting you.

"I got it! It's set to self destruct, get down, NOW!"

Everyone on the team got in cover. The last three mercs tried to run, but the effort was futile, and they were erased from existence. "Good job Tom, meet us at the next door." Shepard said.

...

"I have to give you credit Tom, your hacking skills are good." Garrus complimented my skills.

"I do my best, it would've been faster but it's hard to hack something when you're getting shot at."

"Believe me, when you have 3 merc groups trying to take you down all at the same time I know what you mean."

"Alright, the next cell block is cell block one, prepare for heavy resistance." Shepard opened the door.

"Everyone get down! The Warden is at the highest vantage point and he's got heavy weapons!"

The battle started brutally. As the warden got more reinforcements and a shield generator. I put a bullet in one merc and got several other mercs trying to kill me.

Fortunately Shepard was about three meters away from me and I quickly sprinted from my cover to his.

"Shepard you got a plan? We're pinned down here!" I shouted over the gunfire.

"I'll keep them distracted, flank them with your tactical cloak!" Shepard then used a concussive shot and got the attention of the mercs fighting Garrus and Miranda, who were both pinned down by a Blue Suns Commander and Legionnaire.

I managed to get behind enemy lines undetected. Then I stabbed the Blue Suns Commander, and fortunately this was a game so he wasn't protected by his shields when I stabbed him. Then the two mercs near me tried to shoot me but Garrus sniped one and Shepard sniped the other. The rest of the mercs were easy picking, since they didn't have any directions of what to do.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Alright everyone, we just have the Warden to deal with, everyone get to cover as I deactivated his shield." Garrus, and Miranda got to cover while I shot the last generator, ending the shield. The warden had a huge MG and started spraying me.

"You're valuable Shepard, I could've sold you and lived like a king." The warden shouted angrily. "But your too much trouble, at least I can recapture Jack."

"Not happening!" I yelled back. "You're a two-bit slave trader and I don't have time for your shit!"

I shot him several times, breaking his shields, but his armor just wouldn't go down.

"This is for the good of the galaxy!" In a flash, my own shields were gone.

"I do the things th-" he was cut off as an Omni-blade stuck through his chest.

"Correction, **I** do the things civil governments are unwilling to do, killing scum like you." Tom said smugly.

"Nice one Tom, now come on. The docking bay is right over there." I said.

"Right, I'd rather not suffocate from lack of oxygen, I'll meet you guys at the entrance."

...

"Stop!" The guard shouted, just before getting destroyed by Jack. She destroyed another guard, then I shot the other guard trying to shoot her.

"Who the hell are you?!" Jack shouted.

"I'm Commander Shepard, and I'm here to get you off this station."

"You show up in a Cerberus frigate to take me away, do you think I'm stupid?!"

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

I watched Shepard's diplomatic skills shine as he quickly walked up to her and punched her in the face.

"I just saved your ass! Look at your options, I have the only ship to get off this burning station and you're arguing?! That's pathetic."

"You know we could totally just knock her unconscious right?" I offered.

"She isn't worth it, come on, Jack if you want to stay and rot on this station, be my guest, follow me to the shuttle if you want to live, your choice."

Shepard and the rest of the crew just brushed past a completely surprised Jack. She followed behind me, stunned by someone that didn't give a shit about her being an extremely powerful biotic.


	10. Chapter 10: Facade

"Can you please stop?! I've already been yelled at by Shepard, and I don't want to be pushed around anymore!" Jack shouted.

"She has a point, Miranda. Shepard really gave it to her on that prison ship, cut her a little slack." I offered.

"She's mentally unstable, and she needs to know who's in charge." Miranda shot back.

"I'm in charge Miranda, both of you back off, now." Shepard's commanding voice spoke volumes.

"I've had enough fighting around here, Miranda get back to your quarters, that's an order."

Her face immediately turned back into neutral. "Of course Commander." Miranda left the room.

"Thanks for covering Tom, you can go now."

"Also remind me not to get on your bad side." Shepard chuckled as I left and ran to the elevator.

"Hold it, Miranda." Miranda held the door open.

As it went down I made small talk.

"I guess you really don't like Jack do you?" I asked.

"No, she's a psychotic bitch, and I don't like having crew members talk back to me."

"Lighten up, Miranda. Even if she is crazy everyone deserves a chance, and lose the professionalism when you're talking to me, I'm not your commanding officer."

"It's my job as the CO to ensure that everyone knows what their doing, don't tell me how to do my job." She said bitterly as she left the elevator. What a bitch.

...

"Oh hey, are you the new guy?" Gardner asked.

"Yeah, that's me, you got anything I can eat?"

"Of course! I'll heat something up right now, I may not be the best, but I make do with what we have." He said.

Gardner actually made decent food, even if it wasn't the best. I wasn't used to military rations, but I made do best as I could. Shepard also decided to come down.

"Hey Shepard."

"How are you settling in?"

"Well, this is the first time I've ever been on a ship like this before, it's nice to be working with other people for once."

"I couldn't imagine doing this without any of my friends, why were you disrupting merc operations around Earth?"

"Let's just say that it's a long story, and something I'd rather not relieve it right now, I'll tell you later when I'm feeling up to it, but right now I don't want to relieve those unpleasant memories."

"I can understand that, thanks for talking to me, I'm off to make my rounds now." He said as he got off the chair and headed for the Forward Battery, he was likely to greet Garrus. I myself decided to go back to the bridge, fiddling around with the Normandy's firewalls was a welcome break after shooting up a place.

"Hey Tom, why do you hate the Blue Suns so much?" Joker asked me as I sat down in the Co-pilot seat.

"Like I said to Shepard, it's a long story, and I'd rather not relieve those pleasant memories at the moment." I grimaced to show that I was serious. "I'll tell you about it when I feel ready to tell you, okay?"

"Makes sense, I won't pry too hard, tell me later when you feel ready, but you do have the time it'd be interesting to know why."

Well, now here's where everything about me was to become a facade, I could never tell them the actual truth because if I did then it would completely change the story outside of my knowledge, I'd have to lie, for the entirety of the time that I was fighting alongside Shepard I'd have to be a liar.

It was a pretty big mental weight, I wish I could tell them, but I couldn't. Not when I would likely end with a bullet in my head, this would be my burden alone to bear, and something I could never share. Now the only thing I could do was make everything I say about my past be half truth so that it'd be easier to lie, it still wouldn't be easy.

My thoughts were inturrupted by a message on my Omni-tool.

 _As a gesture of cooperation we have given you blueprints to modify your Omni-tool, it is prototype technology. It Also contains hacking program similar to your own._

 _Legion_

I guess that's his way of a thank you, it reminded me of his quote in Mass effect 3. I opened up the blueprint, this was impressive, VERY impressive. It was schematics to allow my Omni-tool to work similar to the Geth Juggernaut you could use in Mass Effect 3 Multiplayer. I loved that class, and the hacking program was also very nice, I couldn't put my finger on how it was better then mine, but it was unquestionably more powerful. I got up.

"Going somewhere?" Joker looked at me.

"Yeah, the lab."

...

The blueprints I had were surprisingly easy to decode, but I guess Legion had to make it that way. I walked into the lab.

"Hello Tom, just took break, you need something?" Mordin said.

"Yeah, I need some resources."

...

"We all need the proper equipment for the job, I don't see why you shouldn't have this since Cerberus gave me a ridiculous amount of element zero to begin with, I'll provide the materials you need, but the rest is up to you." Shepard said.

"Thanks, this will definitely help me in a fight, especially at close range." I didn't mention that I hated getting close to someone else in a fight, I was never good with my fists, this is why I had my Omni-blades, at least now I could have a decent weapon to use in close quarters combat.

...

I wiped some sweat from my brow. The upgrade was finished, I didn't expect the larger scale fabricator I was using to be so strenuous on me. I just needed some element zero to help make the siphon. It looked more complex then I thought, but it had a simple 'push button when near and enemy' to use. I took the surprisingly small micro chip and inserted it into my Omni-tool.

I thought Legion could just give it to me through the message, but it made several adjustments to my Omni-tool that I guess couldn't be downloaded. It was now blue, and the power draw was larger. But I guess that would be expected. It looked really nice, blue was the new yellow. Then the I got a message.

 _Grab your gear and get to the shuttle bay, we're near Korlus now._

 _-Shepard_


	11. Chapter 11: Contemporary

The shuttle landed on the garbage world.

"There is a lot of Blue Suns activity here, assume hostiles." Shepard warned as we landed.

"Ugh, this place reeks." I put on my helmet.

"It certainly leaves something to be desired." Miranda agreed.

"Stay focused, Okeer is somewhere in this facility."

We walked around the corner and Shepard took cover.

"Hostiles, Miranda and Jacob on me, Tom take pot shots at them with your Widow."

I immediately took cover and while Shepard and co. had a little battle I was having target practise on the mercs. Shepard shot two mercs while Jacob and Miranda used biotics on the rest of them, I shot two mercs, downing their shields and Shepard finished them.

"Nice shooting, let's keep moving." Shepard complimented.

"I try." I put away my Widow and we walked forward.

"Well what do we have here?" Shepard knelt down and looked at the bleeding merc.

"Oh fuck, you're enemy mercs, or Alliance, I'm telling you nothing."

"I have a good supply of medi-gel ready to go, but I'd rather keep walking." Shepard smirked.

"Outpost 5? Hello? We need a report, NOW!"

Shepard took out a gun "don't answer."

But of course, like in the game the merc answered like the stupid person that he was.

"Outpost 5? Ther-

Shepard shot him in the face.

"Wrong move." I commented.

"Come on, we got more Blue Suns to kill."

We walked around the corner, to be met by a barrage of gunfire, and heavy weapons. I cloaked and went around the corner and emptied a clip into the heavy, killing him. Shepard and co. then walked around the corner, guns blazing. We killed most of the people in overwatch positions. But more mercs came and start shooting.

Why? In the game the second wave comes only when you advanced to the next area. Oh well, I quickly shot a guy before ducking back into cover. Jacob used pull on a heavy and we shot him. Then Shepard shot two enemies in the head in quick lethality. I sniped the last guy.

"They really don't give in, do they?" I sighed through the mask.

"Yeah, but they lack any useful skills." Jacob commented.

"Alright, move up." Shepard and everyone else walked towards where that tank bred krogan would be. That reminds me, the half dead merc we met earlier was suppose to tell us about using the krogan for live ammo training, but the radio call came earlier. Also, Jedore hasn't talked on the loud speaker at all yet. Subtle changes to canon that I could see.

We turned the corner and saw several mercs trying to take down one krogan, I took cover. We wordlessly took down the rest of the Blue Suns.

"Who are you?" Shepard looked at the Krogan.

"I was created, but I am not perfect. I failed before I left glass mother."

"Shepard I think he's a tank bred." I interjected.

"Can you help us get to the lab?"

"You fleshy things move slowly when big things get in your way, I will help you."

The krogan proceeded to heft the giant metal piece out of the way.

"We could use your help on the way there." Shepard offered.

"I cannot leave this place until I am called, released."

"Well, uh, you do that then." Shepard said, slightly put off.

We left the Krogan and entered the wrecked building.

"That Krogan was weird." I commented.

"He was almost like a baby that could talk." Miranda stated.

"Yeah, he was weird." Jacob agreed.

"No shit." I said.

"We got enemy Krogan ahead, stay alert everyone." Shepard took out his shotgun.

There were four Krogan there. They annihilated a merc before going after us. Jacob and Miranda had it easy, they had biotics. Shepard started shooting and using concussive shot. I kept shooting until the Krogan after me died. Then I heard a yell. Jacob was VERY close to being mauled. I quickly ran over there and activated the siphoning program on my modified Omni-tool.

The Krogan started rapidly losing his own life, the other Krogan tried shooting me but I was practically invincible while I had this going on. Shepard and Miranda dealt with the other two Krogan. The Krogan I had in a siphon then went limp. Jacob shot it a couple times for good measure.

"Why do you get all the fancy toys Tom?" Jacob holstered his gun.

"Well, it is my specialization. You guys get those fancy biotics, and Shepard gets all the guns."

Shepard shrugged "Hey, I like the big guns okay? Especially my rocket launcher. And you know how much training I went through to use all these things?"

"We won't do anything standing around." Miranda walked forward.

"Right." Shepard got his Avenger out.

The 'siphon' I had worked almost like in the game. But instead of stealing shields it put me in a form of stasis, powered by the energy from the opponent's armor. This is not the only it did either, the siphon would electrocute them after their armor ran out of power so shooting them was pointless, it basically made any living thing an organic battery. We walked out of a doorway into an open walkway, and several heavies immediately started firing rockets at us.

"Get down! Tom get your Sniper out."

"I know what you're thinking, target practise time!"

Me and Shepard just sniped. Miranda and Jacob drew them out using biotics, we cleared the other walkway relatively quickly.

"Man, those guys were relentless." I worked the bolt on my sniper.

"You know, they may not have the skill, but they got the gear." Jacob wiped a bead of sweat from his forehead.

"I would prefer the skill." Miranda said.

"Come on guys, next room."

That's when Jedore got on her loud speaker.

"There are 4 enemy mercs in this place, FOUR. Eliminate them or all bonuses will be denied."

"A loudspeaker? Someone likes the sound of their own voice." Jacob was right, there was no advantage to having your voice over a loudspeaker now, it was better to communicate via Omni-tool now since if it was linked you could just send a global message without alerting the intruders.

"That reminds me of technology in the 21st century." I still miss that time, even if they've cured cancer and we're in a new golden age right now.

"Well, let's hurry before the Blue Suns Commander does something stupid." Shepard urged us on.

"Right."


	12. Chapter 12: Fidelity

"How much further to the labs, Shepard?" I shouted before shooting and killing a merc, drawing the attention of all the heavies.

"We're almost there, keep at it!"

We were at the last room before Okeer, and there were so many heavies that I had to bunker down because of the ridicules amount of missile coming after me. Fortunately Shepard and co. took the distraction and started mowing down the heavies. It wasn't long before the room was clear.

"Shepard, duck!" Shepard ducked back into cover and I sniped the last guy in the face.

"Thanks for the assist, now let's get moving, the entrance to the lab is right there!" He commanded.

Just like in the game, Okeer was there, sitting at his console next to his super solider that was apparently pure Krogan. I didn't care, I was just here to help Shepard, he'd worry about convincing the madman.

"Good timing Shepard, this merc is tiring me, I need you to take her out for me."

"How do you know me?"

"Surprised? All Krogan should know you, after the events on Virmire." He help up a placating hand. "But I approve, Saren's pale horde were not true Krogan. It's the mistake of an outsider, one these mercs have also made."

"Everyone I've decided to call blank state on this project, we're starting over, flush the tanks!" Jedore shouted, obviously annoyed by Okeer releasing all of the Krogan.

"She's that weak willed? She'll kill my legacy with a fucking valve!" He was certainly riled up.

"Help me Shepard, if you kill her, I'll give you all the info I have and more."

"Why don't you start over as well? It seems like a fresh start would help you more then it would hurt you."

"Stop her and I'll give you all the information I have on the Collectors." Shepard immediately perked up. "Deal, but if you don't have any information we're coming back to finish the job by eliminating you." He said, the last part of his sentence was as cold as ice.

We walked down the small flight of stairs and took cover as soon as we entered the room.

"I don't care who you four are, I'll poison them all!" Jedore started rapidly shooting at us, forcing us to hunker down.

"Tom, see if you can hack that heavy mech, Jacob, kill the Krogan that get out of their tanks, Miranda, on me!"

Fortunately my Geth hack upgrades breached the firewalls much faster, allowing me to quickly hack the heavy mech, I set it to self destruct since I'd rather not waste more valuable time hacking it to switch its friend foe system.

"I'm in Shepard, setting it to self destruct!"

"Get down everybody!" Shepard shouted as the mech exploded, an explosion which, somehow Jedore survived.

"What the hell? How's she still alive?" I asked in confusion, that blast should've straight killed, I guess not.

"We'll deal with her anyway, focus fire on Jedore!" Shepard started filling her with lead, she wasn't going to last long.

She lasted longer then the Warden did, but that still wasn't enough, eventually she was incapacitated, bleeding out on the floor.

"You know, for all your toys and guards, you sucked at actual combat." Shepard said angrily, before shooting her in the head.

EDI once again abruptly spoke "Shepard standard fail safes have been triggered back in Warlord Okeer's room, I have gained limited access."

"Remind me to modify EDI's cyberwarfare suite when we get back." I commented.

"Alright, to the lab!"

We quickly ran all the way back to see of course, Okeer on the floor, dead.

The recording played. "Shepard if I knew anything about the Collectors...I would tell you, but they only gave me the blueprints and left. But everything is in my prototype, this one soldier, this grunt.. Perfect."

"Well to honest that guy was a little crazy." I shrugged.

"Sacrificing yourself for one sentient being is weird, but I guess that means we get this Krogan." Shepard radioed the Normandy.

"We got a big package, we might need a little help."

...

"Having that Krogan is alright, but I have concerns about waking it." Miranda stated her fears.

"Well, he is a deck away from you, you afraid?" I teased, Jacob grinned at that.

"No, its just that this one was made, and likely educated by a Madman."

"I see our new package has caused quite the commotion, anyone have any ideas to offer?"

"No I'm just worried it might have some sort of fail safe or something that lets him out of his 'cage'." Miranda said, air quoting the cage part.

"The cargo hold will be safe enough when I decide to open his tank."

"Fine, it is ultimately your choice Commander." Miranda left the room.

"I don't mind, what's the worst he can do?" Jacob left Shepard with that sentiment.

"I only have one request Commander."

"Shoot."

"I want to be there when you decide to open his tank."

"Well, we may as well do it now, why keep a super soldier locked up?"

"Good point."

...

"You're sure about this?" I said uneasy. I didn't know what would happen if I also decided to hang around.

"Absolutely, I'm opening it now."

Shepard hit the release button, opening the tank and making Grunt fall to the ground, just like in the games. Grunt got up and tried to rush Shepard, but I shoved him out of the way. We both aimed our guns at him.

"Humans, male."

"Calm down, Okeer is dead, you aren't loyal to anyone."

"Name?"

"I'm Commander Shepard, and this is Tom Fisher."

"Not yours, mine. Okeer couldn't implant a connection, his words are hollow, Grunt... Grunt was among the last, it has little meaning, it'll do. I was made to kill things, to fight, may as well start here."

"You want to die?" Shepard meant every word in that sentence.

"To be fair, we both have heavy pistols pointed at your face, and Shepard has been known to be able to take a life in the blink of an eye, plus the 5 other incredibly dangerous people on this ship."

"Fight for me Grunt. My enemies are the strongest in the galaxy, and you'll always be in the thick of it when you're fighting with me." He held out a hand, but kept his pistol point firmly at Grunt's face.

Grunt thought this over for a minute, and then he chuckled. "Heh, offer one hand and arm the other, I will fight for you Shepard, and if I eventually find what I want, I will be honored to eventually pit them against you."

"Okay, now that all of this is out of the way, can we actually talk without me getting worried that I'm going to get either mauled or that I'm going to break some bones, or both?" I interjected. Which caused both Grunt and Shepard to laugh.


	13. Chapter 13: Assuagement

The bridge was usually a quiet place, aside from the banter from myself and Joker the only thing you could hear would be the thrum of the ship as it effortlessly glided through space. This was lost as soon as Shepard entered.

"Joker set a course for the Citadel, I believe it's time the crew got a little shore leave."

"Yes Commander."

I'd never seen the Citadel yet, I'd seen a little bit of it on the Extranet, but that was it, it's beauty would probably be magnified in real life. I had to hide my excitement as we started flying towards the Citadel.

Now encrypting the Normandy's firewalls seemed a lot more boring. "Hey Joker, do you ever get tired of sitting there, all the time?" I asked.

"Not really, the Normandy is state-of-the-art and it has more then enough functions to keep me busy."

"Well on that we can agree, but these encryptions and firewalls I see here are real sloppy, that is until I modified them."

"Well you ARE the best hacker I've ever seen, have you ever thought you've been overdoing it?"

"I'll get back to you on that." I pinged Garrus.

"Hey Tom, how's it going?"

"Garrus do you ever get tired of calibrating that gun?"

"No, why?"

"Joker here says that I may be overdoing it by constantly modifying our systems firewalls, I've calculated an 35.24% increase in encryption protocols, do you think I'm overdoing it?"

"Of course not, you always need to get in that extra .23 percent right?"

"Thanks Garrus." I shut down the call.

"You see Joker, it's never enough, I always need to squeeze in that extra 1%."

"Ugh, if there is ever a day when both you guys aren't at your respective places on this ship, I think I may have just won the lottery."

"I'll let you know if that happens."

 _Several hours later_

"Alright, we're exiting FTL now, be prepared for the Citadel." Joker was rapidly tapping buttons.

I turned off my display as I watched the Citadel come into view, it really was amazing, they truly didn't do it justice in the games. I watched as Joker effortlessly guided the Normandy into the docking area, and then eventually we docked.

"How many times have you done that now?" I asked.

"Like seven, go have fun." I left the bridge at that.

...

Hacking through C-sec was easyish, their security was a little hard to get through due to it's advanced facial recognition software, but I managed to make sure that I wouldn't have any issues when they scanned me for the first time when Shepard went through.

"Thank you Commander Shepard, it was a pleasure to see you." Bailey rapidly tapped on a console.

Shepard nodded. "You bet, have a nice day Bailey." He turned to us.

"Ok everyone, you all have around 7 hours to do what you want, have fun."

"About time." I said.

"Try not to get into trouble, because I'm not bailing you out if you get behind bars."

"Well you have saved us more then several times, one more couldn't hurt right?" Garrus said. I chuckled, so did Jacob. Garrus was just the best some times.

"Alright, see you guys later." Shepard walked off towards a rapid transit.

"I feel like the bar would be a good time right now." Garrus looked like he was ready to have that good time.

"I'm with you on that." Jacob followed him to the bar.

"I'm going to go see what's they have for weapon ungrades." Miranda began walking to the area where all the weaponry stores were located at.

"Well, it's just us now." Just me and Jack.

"Yeah, I'm going to find a gun shop, my shotgun needs an upgrade." Jack also left for the shopping area.

I decided to go and sell the circuits of my dead phone, since it was obsolete at this point, I walked into a small electronics store, that promised to take all the old stuff for a good price.

"Hello there, can I help you?" A Salarian asked me at the counter.

"I have some very, very old electronic parts here, that you might want." I offered him the circuits.

"Ah, yes! This will allow me to attune the fabricator to this, I will offer you 40,000 credits for the parts."

"It's a deal then." The Salarian transferred the credits, and my Omni-tool made that satisfying ping sound I liked.

I left the shop with roughly 100,000 credits. That should tide me over for now, and I still have my old clothes so I bet those would fetch a good price, when the time came I would sell them, but I'd hold out for now. I wish I was paid like Miranda, she's lucky, she's the second in command of Cerberus, and even SHE doesn't know where their main base of operations is? Tough luck.

I walked out and instantly walked right into Shepard, what are the odd?

"Hello Shepard, I was just selling some old electronics, what brings you here?" I greeted.

"I was just wandering, I'm not really a man of details, I just decided to go for a walk."

"Well you don't really need details, you just blast anything that gets in your way." He chuckled.

"Well, it comes with a trade off, I'd never been able to do the stuff you do with your Omni-tool, how'd you get it to choke people when we went on our last mission?"

"Trade secret, I can't tell you everything can I?"

"Yes, but remember, I'm your Commander." Man, that pull rank renegade action was real snide.

"Ugh, when do you ever stop?"

"I don't know, but I haven't conquered the bar yet."

"I think Garrus beat you to it, lets go before they buy all the drinks." Shepard laughed as we walked in the general direction of the bar.


	14. Chapter 14: Apprehensive

I sat down, woozy. I had a horrible tolerance to alcohol. I was experiencing a pretty bad hangover at the moment, in the med bey.

"Take this, it should help you feel better." Dr. Chakwas said as she handed me a blue pill.

"Thanks" I mumbled before swallowing it.

I felt real confident in my tolerance to the stuff, but my ego was getting a bit too big, next time I would've taken Jacob's, next time I would just order a soda or something, ugh. I felt real embarrassed too. I was the only one that actually got drunk at the bar, at least I hadn't made a fool of myself.

"Sometimes I wish I'd rather be shot then be humiliated." I grumbled.

"I actually wish Shepard was like you, he never sits still if I have to do surgery, figures too. You haven't gotten physically injured at all yet, but you still managed to get drunk, after this I'll probably be able to cure everything, with the likes of the crew, everyone around here tends to get injured a lot."

"Don't you hate having to cure or heal someone after every single mission?" I asked wearily.

"Of course not! I was specifically assigned to the Normandy for my unwavering attitude, and besides, I do love my job."

"Okay, just remind me after this to never touch your brandy that you carry for celebration." I looked up, to see Shepard there with a wide grin on his face.

"You know Tom, you should've given me a warning before you chugged the whole bottle." He chuckled.

"Shut up Shepard, I didn't want the good docter to know!"

"Oh dear, with the likes of your recklessness it surprises me you haven't caught a bullet yet."

"Garrus bet I couldn't down it in one go, that figures, I'm going to be taking those 50 credits of his after this."

"I didn't realize you had such a big ego going for you, next time I hope Jacob is a little more blunt, I'll be seeing you later." Shepard walked out, the smile still wide on his bloody face. What cheeky punk.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

I silently chuckled as Tom muttered something about me being real cheeky before I left. He was a good man, I sure hoped that his ego was a little smaller after this, no need for him being overconfident, it might get him killed. I exited the elevator to go see the Illusive man, that bastard may have been evil in the past, I was only working with him because he had given me the tools for the job, not because I felt like humanity was supposed to be on top of the galactic food chain.

"Shepard, I think we have them, Horizon, a human colony just went silent."

"Something I should know?" I asked.

"I believe the Collectors are going to hit it soon, ready a team and be ready to land there, also another thing."

"I'm listening."

"Major Alenko, one of your squad mates from the original Normandy is stationed there."

"Figures, since it has one of my former squad mates they decided to conveniently pick that one colony." I grumbled, this was off putting, and now it had gotten personal.

"They may be trying to lure you out Commander, but I don't know, check with Mordin and see if he has a countermeasure for the seeker swarms, and be ready."

"I also have another question."

"Go Shepard."

"That vigilante, the one I recruited, how much do you really know about him? And how did he elude your sources for so long? All you knew about him was the hated mercs and that he was a professional hacker."

"Shepard, my sources are much more then you'd think, but he was a bit of an anomaly. All of sources went silent after they tried to gather intel on him, he was very hard to track down, and I couldn't find any records of any kind on him, nothing that matched up with him, as slim as my leads were, I simply predicted he was going to target that one particular merc Commander. The fact is that he is truly one of the best hackers I've encountered, which is why I believe we know so little about him, but that's enough talk for now. Good bye Shepard." He cut the call.

I sighed, I hated talking to the Illusive man. And he still didn't know who Tom was, he was hiding something, the way he acted, it was like he was a shadow of who he really was. When he was drunk I tried asking something, anything to know about his family and friends. He only mentioned something about being from somewhere else, and that was just the ramblings of a man who was drunk, after that the he passed out.

I'd think about this later. But when this was all over, Tom had a little explaining to do. I hope his past wasn't sinister, but from what I can see it seems like he either works for a different organization like the Shadow Broker's or that he's hiding something terrible based on how well he hid himself on Earth.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Well shit, Shepard was on to me. That conversation with the Illusive man was a little hard to hack without anyone detecting me, but I wasn't called a master hacker by the Shepard himself for no reason. I had to make a convincing story, something he could believe, not something I could just pull out of my ass at the last second. I knew it would happen eventually, the kind of weight that pushed down on me was really hard to ignore, and I was trying best as I could, but I wasn't a Quarian, who could so easily hid their facial expressions that it was nearly impossible to know what they were thinking, and or their figure out their emotions.

That reminds me, Tali is a technological genius in the games, so I have to double check to make sure bit of information I have is secured on my Omni-tool, or I could seriously screw up canon to the point of no return. Also I had made sure Legion hadn't looked at my Omni-tool at all either, I was getting slowly better at hacking, since this was still a little new to me, that's why I tinkered with the Normandy's systems, just to figure out how firewalls worked here.

Fortunately no one had seen my Mass Effect guide. I had slowly translated the code from my old phone slowly but steadily, I wiped its memory afterwards, and then it died so no one would be able to see it besides my self, since it had a fingerprint scanner before you could even use it the app and the most advanced encryption algorithm I've ever written, so I hope it would be safe.

I just hope, that if I can ever tell Shepard the full story, maybe just one day. I hope that I can leave without 17 holes in my head, but I couldn't dwell on that now as I got up from the table in the deserted crew quarters and made way for the bridge, smiling as I got a credit transfer of 50 credits from Garrus.


	15. Chapter 15: Indurate

I walked over to the bridge. Joker was currently in the middle of a conversation with Shepard, something about ships and combat.

"I still don't see how you consider flying the ship to be 'fun' Joker." Shepard crossed his arms.

"Well at least there isn't always a risk that I'll be shot, multiple times."

"That's always a risk." Shepard looked up. "Tom, how are you doing?"

"Fine, thank you very much." He grinned.

"I'm never letting you live that down, you know that right?"

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, that's to be expected."

"Joker, can you get Garrus, Jack, Mordin and Grunt to suit up? Our next mission is on Horizon, speaking of which, how close are we?"

"We're two hours out, Shepard."

"Good, I'm going go get my armor equipped." I held out a hand.

"What is it?" Shepard asked. I tapped a couple buttons on my Omni-tool.

"There, I've installed a tracker on your Omni-tool, if anything goes down we'll know where you're at and your life-signs."

He nodded. "Thanks, just try not to abuse that when I'm having some time to myself."

I had just installed a virus on his Omni-tool, it wasn't really harmful, but it did it's job, I could see Shepard moving towards the elevator now through his Omni-tool. It was a pretty experimental design. Mostly a prototype, I still hadn't worked out all the glitches but it'd work for now, at least I hoped so. If my hunch was correct then I'd easily be able to see what he was doing on Horizon.

XXXXXXXX

"People here just don't trust the Alliance, it's nothing personal." Lilith said, obviously trying to calm him down.

"The way you people act it's like I'm a terrorist or something." Kaiden responded wearily.

"People here moved out to the Terminus systems to get away from it all, like I said it's nothing personal."

"Then can you at the very least be helpful? Those AA guns won't fix themselves."

That's when the Collector ship came into view.

Kaiden looked calmly through the scope of his Assault Rifles as the Collector ship came into view. He watched as a hatch opened and swarms of bugs came flying out.

"Get everyone to the Safe house!" Kaiden shouted.

"Bu-"

"That wasn't a choice! Get out of here, now!" But the swarm had already come, Lilith had run to late, and soon they were all paralyzed to the ground, they watched in horror as the Collectors soon filed out of the ship to take them away.

XXXXXXXX

"Mordin, Grunt, Jack, and Garrus report to the shuttle bay." Shepard said through the intercom.

"Duty calls, is that right?"

"Don't even ask me that, Tom. You've never worn the uniform of the Alliance." He said coldy.

"I tried, I tried, but you shut me down."

"I've got a job to do, make the witty remarks after it's done. I've got to stop the Collectors." He said before leaving the bridge.

"You know, you shouldn't have tried to banter with him like that, it's better to do it after the mission, trust me, I've learned from experience." Joker said.

Here comes the horrible conversation with his best friend Kaiden, that going to hard, I hated what he said in Mass Effect 2, and personally, I would've chose Ashley at Virmire. But that didn't matter the second I came into this world because Ashley was already dead the time I got here, which really sucked for me.

I watched Shepard step into the Shuttle along with the rest of his squad, he had two extra squad mates, but I guess that would be necessary for the fight ahead. I already knew what was going to happen so it didn't scare me, but I bet at least one of the squad was scared in some way. I never understood how Kaiden would change so suddenly to scorn Shepard like that, since it was pretty out of character.

My Omni-tool beeped, and I smiled, my hunch was correct, it was going to be extremely easy to see what Shepard was doing if I had access to anotehr Omni-tool as well, it was interesting that my virus had infected the Omni-tool Garrus had now.

XXXXXXX

"So Shepard, we're fighting Collectors now? How many enemies do we have we fought again? Also, who's next?" Garrus asked jokingly.

"I lost count when we started fighting plants." It was unfortunate how true that was.

Garrus checked his HUD which had a flashing menu button. He opened it curiously.

"You know Garrus, that would've definitely screwed you over if that had been any other hacker besides myself, you just gave me access to your Omni-tool and your modified visor."

"Did you really just hack into my visor?"

"Oh don't worry, I haven't changed anything." I activated my own camera. "And if you're wondering I already modified Shepard's visor too, so it was just a couple code inserts and everything started working, after all, your visor is strikingly similar to Shepard's."

"You know I'm right here right?" Shepard said.

"Yeah, I just wanted to know if you got any inspiration from that Shepard, Garrus' looks like his is more worn out."

"It's good quality and it helps optimize damage since it calculates distance and helps with accuracy, and yes, I did recommend it to him."

"That's interesting, good luck on your mission, I'll be watching from my computer."

"Alright, everyone ready?" Shepard shouted.

There was a chorus of 'yes'

"Alright, Mordin, will the counter measure work?"

"The armor effect should confuse the scanners which should leave us invisible to swarms, in theory."

"Gee that's sure reassuring Mordin." Jack said sarcastically.

"If it doesn't work you can hit me later." Shepard said as the shuttle door opened.

"I'll make sure it's a biotic slap." Jack said darkly.

"Shepar- *static* I thi- yo- do yo- *static* re-d me? I'- *static* losi-"

"Comms are down." Shepard made the first obvious conclusion.

"Looks like we're on our own for a while." Garrus observed grimly.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Dang it! I forgot that communication was disabled for the bulk of the Horizon mission. I tried compensating but there was just too many bugs for me to get a decent comm line. I always hated this mission anyway, so I guess there's no loss there. I decided to go down to the crew deck for some food and drink, I hadn't eat in a little while, and maybe a nap if time was feeling generous.

XXXXXXXXXXX

"Mordin cover my left, Grunt cause a rukus, it'll distract them. Jack maul them with your shock wave, and Garrus, on me." I immediately pulled out my favorite sniper, too bad it didn't have the kind of stopping power that Tom's widow had, but I can dream.

"Alright Garrus while they do all the crazy stuff we get to have some target practice." Shepard drew his own sniper.

"Sounds like my style, I'm ready."

"Open fire."

This reminded me of my final days on Omega, sniping those witless idiots with my sniper. That was almost like a vacation for me, my final days there were more exciting then my entire career at C-sec. In fact, I secretly wish my father hadn't stopped me from being a Spectre. I hadn't told anyone else that I'd ever wanted to become one, but I bet my life would be far more interesting if I was one.

I shot another Collector. The real kicker though, was that if I had become a Spectre I wouldn't have met Shepard, and I would pass up being a Spectre any day to working with Shepard, I guess fate was kind enough to let me meet him.

"Alright, good work everyone, area clear."

I walked with everyone else as we walked to the a locked door that we would probably need to hack, I wish Tom was here, that was supposed to be his job.

XXXXXXXXXX

Man, sleeping on the Normandy was kind of odd. I never really had a full 'sleep' more like a nap every time I got tired. I had grown accustomed to the noises of the Normandy all around me, and it made me feel comfy in my bed down on the crew quarters. I could see now why Dr. Chakwas liked sleeping on a ship rather then on a planet, it took a certain kind of person to like it.

I got off my bed and walked out the door. Only to run into Kelly right at the door.

"Oh sorry, my bad Ms-"

"Just call me Kelly, the rest of the crew does."

"Oh, right, sorry about that, aren't you like Shepard's assistant or something?" I hated having to re-greet and meet all of the characters again, it just felt so odd.

"I'm his Yeoman, I help with his private messages and with any issues the crew is having, anything I should know?" Her smile was dazzling.

"Not really, I recognized you though, I was just wondering who you were."

She nodded. "It's a pleasure to meet you Tom."

"The pleasure is mine, and also don't act like I'm some sort of amazing figure, I'm just another crew member, just like you, ease up."

"Thank you, a lot of the crew don't know that, to us Shepard and co. are like amazing actors, while we are the people that work behind the stage to make sure nothing bad happens, thank you." Kelly walked by me into the crew quarters, presumably to rest, I bet she did that whenever Shepard wasn't here, after all in the games she never leaves her post except for when the Collecter abduction happens.

Oh shit, that's right the crew is supposed to get abducted. I don't think I'll be able to make a difference when that happens, but maybe, just maybe I could stop the IFF from transmitting, but it was Reaper technology, and I doubt I'd be able to hack past that. Maybe just warn them, like to be in docked at the citadel when it happens, but I don't think that would work. I think the viruses given transmit ONLY when the Normandy is alone. If that's true I'm screwed either way.

I shivered as the elevator door opened and I walked into the CIC. I think the warning idea would be good, even if it barely does anything. Because first, I've already tinkered with this ship, and me warning them about it transmitting strange signals would be pretty general, and since I am a 'master hacker' they would trust me because of my expertise. I still don't think I'm that good, I think I'm rather a amateur compared to the Geth and or Reapers but I'll take the title anyway.

XXXXXXXXXX

"What is that thing?" Garrus questioned as he looked at a Scion.

"I don't really remember it, but all I know is that it can down your shields in one hit if you're not careful, get down!" Shepard yelled.

"We're close to the guns, would recommend enabling them to destroy Collector ship." Mordin used Incinerate on the Scion.

"We also be able to reestablish connection with the Normandy when we get there." Garrus beat a husk with the stock of his weapon.

Shepard finished the Scion with his missile launcher, clearing the area of hostiles.

"Alright, move it people, we need to stop that ship before more people are shipped to it, come on!"

* * *

 **Author's note: Note that at this point the story will get significantly upped in quality, but I haven't edited past this point so prepare for cliche and some plot holes until I edit every chapter, thank you for reading thus far, especially since it's still partially a cringe fest.**


	16. Chapter 16: Tension

"The turret controls are ahead, Shepard." Garrus said as they walked through the door that led into an open area filled with boxes, the controls were in the center of the area.

"Good, that means we can re-establish contact with the Normandy."

Even I could easily get a link with the Normandy, and it was good to see some more friendly faces.

"Shepard, that you?" I wasn't more happy to see Tom's face now.

"It's me, we just arrived at the colony's Guardian air defense system. We need some help calibrating these things, can you lend a hand?"

"Calibrating isn't my thing unfortunately, I'll forward that one over to EDI."

"Shepard, the errors in the targeting systems are easily rectified, but it will take a while before the guns reach full power."

"I may be able to reroute any emergency generators to quicken that process." Tom added.

"Do it, both of you."

"This may take about 2 minutes Shepard, and EDI has detected inbound hostiles, you might want to ready your guns."

"Everyone to cover, move!"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"EDI I'm hacking into the colony's power grid, are those errors fixed?"

"Yes Tom, I really believe they are." Me and Joker stared.

"That was a joke."

"Alright Joker you can chastise her later I got stuff to do." I cracked my knuckles.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"We got a bunch of those husks rushing us!" Garrus said uncomfortably, close range was not his specialty.

"I'll tear them apart!" Jack ripped apart the group with a biotic shock wave, tossing them like toys.

"Everyone come in." Tom communicated to everyone through Omni-tool.

"Yes Tom?" I asked.

"Shepard the guns are powering up, they're at 25% right now, just survive, once these things reach 100% I'll get them shooting, just survive the waves that come at you."

"That's good, everyone keep shooting, those guns are at 25%!" Shepard shouted over the gunfight which was currently happening.

"Keep it up Tom, we'll last."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Garrus, shoot those husks on our left flank!" Shepard commanded before punching another husk that had gotten too close.

Husks were easily dealth with, I'd seen these things and fought them before, I scoped and dropped each of them, this rifle definitely got the job done.

"We've got a huge husk with a gun inbound, take it out Garrus!" Those things were disgusting, they looked like human soup, and they had a nasty gun which disabled shields in one shot. This was much harder to take down, due to it's extensive armor and it's gun forcing me into cover every 10 seconds, but this rifle had the stopping power to easily take it out in only four shots.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

"We need to have at least two people covering each other. I need Jack to be near Garrus and Mordin near me so that if anyone needs saving we can help each other out." I ordered.

"What ever you say, boss man." Jack started walking to the cover where Garrus was at.

"Of course Shepard." Mordin readied weapons.

"Shepard, the guns are at 75% percent." Tom said.

"Good, keep at it Tom."

"Shepard we have two huge husks incoming!" Jack shouted.

"Everyone to cover, NOW!" I hated those things.

They were really hard to kill, since they had heavy armor plating, and they had a 'gun' that could down someone's shields in one hit. It also could hit more then one person at a time and they took a huge amount of bullets to kill.

"Jack and me have the one on the left, everyone else focus on the right one!" I started spraying the weird husk thing with lead.

"Right Shepard, this outta be fun."

Jack went crazy with her biotics, just constantly hounding the big thing, what ever it was, it looked like 4 husks merged together, ugh. I shot it a couple times and hit it with a concussive shot. The damage was pretty decent but it could likely take a whole lot more then that. That's when it absolutely exploded in disgusting blue goo. Jack was there with a killer smile on her face.

"Okay, now you're scaring me, Jack." I said, clearly put off by her attitude, and the fact that she smelled terrible, being covered in the thing's guts.

"Oh, I'm just getting started." She ran at the other thing full of biotic power like back in the prison and smashed it in a pile of blue gore.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"I think we're going to need to remind each other to not get on Jack's bad side." Garrus told me over the comm line. He knew I was watching through his visor, and yeah, she was tearing those Scions apart, there was nothing left of that wave.

"I think I'm going to be sick if I see her do it again." I grimaced. Then a green icon started flashing on my console.

"EDI inform Shepard that the guns are going to start firing, now."

"Message away."

Shepard opened a comm line "Tom, do we have any hostiles in the immediate area?"

"Let me check." I used the Normandy's scanner and zoomed in a little bit.

"Oh shit, you got incoming, something big!"

"Shit, everyone to cover, that things got heavy armor, get down!" Shepard shouted over the comm line before he hastily shut it down.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

That thing was much tougher then anything I had faced that was made by the Collectors before now. It had a little cache full of husk skulls and it would occasionally generated a barrier which was really annoying. Jack was too tired to do those biotics again, plus those lasers would down your shields instantly, I had gotten seared by one earlier.

Garrus sniped an eye out and it started floating around madly.

"Everyone finish it off!" I shouted and started spraying it with my shotgun.

Everyone started madly shooting at it as I marked it for death. I guess my orders were lethal, but again I was known to take a life in the blink of an eye. It radically disappeared as it put it's claws to its face as if it had a headache.

"Shepard heavy damage has been sustained by the Collector Ship, it's leaving the colony, they're abandoning every colonist that's left." Tom said.

"Good job, we didn't completely stop them, but they didn't take everyone this time, job well done."

"No, no! They got Lilith and Rob, they got almost everyone!" The engineer ran, looking at the ship.

"Do something! They got almost everyone!"

"What do you want me to do? They're gone, we can't get them, but at least we saved some people."

"Shepard you did good, you saved about 40% of people here, roughly." Garrus said.

"Commander Shepard, first human Spectre, savior of the Citadel." Kaiden appeared.

"All the good people get taken and you get left behind, figures."

"Shepard you did good, you saved about 60% of people here, roughly." Garrus said.

"Wait, I know that name, your some kind of big Alliance hero, you know what? Forget this, I'm done with you Alliance types." The engineer ran off.

"Shepard, I thought you were dead, we all did, but worse, we heard rumors, rumors that you were working for the enemy." Kaiden said expectantly.

"Kaiden, I WAS dead, but Cerberus rebuilt me, you saw it yourself, entire human colonies are missing, the work of the Collectors."

"What if it's Cerberus? What if they're the ones working with the Collectors?"

"Kaiden your letting their history get in the way of the facts."

"Or maybe you feel like you owe them, because they rebuilt you, I'm reporting back to the Alliance, I'll see if they believe your story."

"Don't go Kaiden, join us, we could use your help in the fight against the Collectors."

"Sorry Shepard, but I'm an Alliance Soldier, it's in my blood, I wish I could, but I don't trust Cerberus." Kaiden walked off.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Wasn't Kaiden supposed to say something about Shepard turning his back on them? I watched through Garrus' visor as he walked off lamely. Man I guess me being changed a lot of things, mainly dialouge, it was interesting to see how everything had changed. Wait, why was I thinking about this like a story? It may have been like that at one point, but now it's real, I have to stop thinking about people like actors, playing out their roles, every death was real.

"Shepard to Normandy, we need the shuttle to pick us up, I've had enough of this colony."

I never blamed him in the games for being a little grumpy after that mission, since that 'talk' with Kaiden was pretty demoralizing if you ask me, I'm right glad that Kaiden/Ashley apologizes later in a email.

"Geez, I never expected Kaiden to the demoralizing type." I muttered out loud.

"Did Shepard just see him again?" Joker asked.

"Yeah, and the meeting was a real big downer."

"Oh, that's a real bad, being told by your own friend."

"Got that right." I watched the shuttle depart for the coordinates where Shepard was going to be picked up.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Shepard was really grumpy on the way back to the Normandy, I can't blame him either, those words hurt, and Kaiden didn't hold back his opinions. That was not at all like Kaiden either, on the original Normandy I remember him being easy going when off duty, and usually up for a chat if you were bored, I guess two years without Shepard changed him. It changed me too, I hated putting up with the bureaucratic crap back at C-sec, even less so after I'd met Shepard. That's one of the main reasons anyway I left the Citadel.

"Something on your mind?" Tom suddenly appeared.

"I'll talk to you later, not now though."

XXXXXXX

I manipulated the controls, closing the docking bay as Joker was too busy currently, debating with EDI.

"I still think the more guns you have, the more prepared you are."

"Not necessarily, that means you must devote more resources to the guns then for example, armor, shields or other improvements." EDI said, she was currently debating with Joker.

I checked my Omni-tool to see the message Garrus promised.

"I'm going for a meal Joker, can you actually do something now?" I lied.

Joker had just lost the debate "Yeah, yeah I got it, have fun."

I left the bridge and walked to the elevator, deep in thought. I pressed the call button and waited, I'm glad that it wasn't the slow as crap elevators they had in the first game. I looked up, bewildered to see Shepard there.

"Shepard, sorry I-" He cut me off.

"Don't worry about it, I'll be fine." Shepard said reassuringly, but I noticed the stress in his voice.

"Alright." I left him and pressed for the crew deck on the elevator.

Yeah, it was getting to him alright, the strain was obvious in his voice, I'd be surprised if someone didn't recognize that. I stepped out of the elevator and made way for the gun battery. Garrus was there, STILL calibrating the gun I see.

"Hey Tom, I couldn't really talk to you in front of the Commander. He seems stressed, and I didn't want him worried about us worrying about him."

"That is complicated and simple at the same time," I smirked

"I know just the thing to make him remember that he isn't alone, follow me."

 _Meanwhile_

"Keep building your team Shepard, I'll find a way to get through the Omega 4 Relay."

"Just don't get any ideas, this is only a mutual alliance, you hear me?"

"Yes Shepard, remember, entire human colonies depend on your success." The Illusive man manipulated the controls, ending the talk. He was super stuck up. Behind all the protection, and that look that said 'I have all the power here.' Despite him helping Shepard right now, he would not hesitate later to put a bullet right where it deserved to be, in his head.


	17. Chapter 17: Gratuity

"So this is what you were talking about?" This gun was amazing in the games, it was a reassurance to have it here.

"Yes, Shepard asked me to finish it for him, he loves these kinds of guns."

"Go figure, he's a Soldier, so what did you what me here for then?"

"I needed you to help with the programming, I've finished the calibrating, but I need help with the firing mechanism."

"I can do that, I'm not a professional programmer, quite the opposite, but I'll improvise, improvisation can take you a long way in life." I didn't know how I'd be able to program a gun, especially something big like this M-920 Cain that Garrus had asked my help for.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Joker, what are the coordinates for the first person on the dossiers?" I asked.

"I'm imputting them now Commander, they lead to Haelstrom."

"Good, set a course for it, I'm going down to the crew deck because Tom needs me for something."

"Roger that Commander."

My thoughts wandered to that talk with Kaiden back on Horizon. Why had that bothered me so much? I was doing the right thing, or at least I was doing what I could, and that was enough. It must've been how different I'd expected him to react to me, he was never like that on the original Normandy.

"Hey Tom." I said wearily as the elevator door opened.

"Hey, you okay? It seemed a bit rough down there." He was concerned.

"It was bad, I'm not going to sugarcoat it, but I don't want to worry you with my own problems, we have a mission to finish, then we can worry about personal issues."

"I just finished working on the gun you requested, Garrus needed my help due to the nature of it's programming, but I finished it, here, Garrus bring it out now, he's here!"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

I don't know what Shepard was expecting when he asked Garrus to make this thing, but I don't think he was expecting this. I loved the Cain when I used it in the games, it was a great gun, although there was a lot of timing and level knowledge to use it effectively.

"Wow! Is that the M-920 Cain that I asked for? I didn't think it'd be like this, how powerful is it?"

"It's more powerful then the Mako's main cannon, enough power to tear out a bulkhead on this ship." Garrus was obviously in his element here, talking animately about it's new features. "It may require a couple seconds to gather power, but when it goes off it'll obliterate anything you care to aim it at."

"It's a beauty, thanks for finishing this, it'll definitely save my ass while we're on a mission."

"It's going to be us that'll be thanking you when you pull us through on the suicide mission, this is just something to help you put the down for good."

"I appreciate this, thank you both for making this." He saluted. And then he got right back to the task at hand. "You both are coming with me, we're going to be recruiting Tali for the next mission, grab your gear, and be ready." Shepard walked to the elevator, cradling the Cain like a newborn baby.

"Looks like that helped him a little." I observed.

"He likes guns, and explosives. And guns that shoot explosives are one of his favorite things." What a badass.

...

"Tom calculations estimate it's impossible to get anymore then 98.34% efficiency out of our Cyber warfare suite."

"Oh yeah, don't tell me if it's good or not, check now."

"Calculations now estimate you improved our efficiency by 1% efficiency, it's now 99.34% efficient, how did you manage this?"

"Don't underestimate me, The dossier on myself stated I was a master hacker, and with good reaso-"

"Sure, but they didn't say you had a massive ego." Joker interrupted.

"Shut it, Joker!"

"They really didn't say that you know." I swear Shepard is a ninja sometimes, I never hear the door open, only his voice directly behind me, there he was, clad in full N7 armor.

"How do you always get on the bridge without me hearing the door open? You know know what, don't answer that, I'll start getting ready for our mission."

"Good, I was just about to remind you of that."

"Commander, we're 3 hours out."

"Get going, Tom."

...

I put on my helmet and sealed it with. It hissed softly as it pressurized. I always liked how most modern armor had a 'space suit' function. That reminds me of my old life. Those days seem so primitive now. Now I always had connection to the Extranet, and faster than light travel was a day to day thing. Back then it was just a fantasy, an impossible dream, since we had no technology that good. But that also reminds me of my worst memories.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

" _Go with him, I'll hold them off."_

 _"Dad NO! DON'T LEAVE ME!"_

 _My dad sent me off with my mom, I remember hearing gunshots as we left._

 _"I'm sorry Tommy, daddy's gone."_

 _"Bu- daddy!" I cried as we traveled in the car._

 _"It's okay, mommy's here."_

 _"Can't we go back?!"_

 _"No Tommie, we're going to Auntie's." She clearly wanted to see him too, there was pure pain in her eyes._

 _"Will we ever get to see daddy again?" I asked, my eyes wet with tears._

 _"No Tommy, I'm so sorry, I miss him too." My mom started crying too soon after that._

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Oh man, those memories were bad. I lost my dad when I was 5 years old to some people, I don't know who. They murdered him, and the murderers in question were never found. I still wonder who did it, but I could never find them, I just have to keep moving forward, I'd never see them again. It was still grim to think about.

"Are you alright Tom? You haven't talked since we got on the shuttle."

"I'm fine, there's just some unfinished stuff I need to clean up that's bothering me." That was not entirely a lie either, Vincent had gotten out of jail, that guy who I'd stolen weapons from, I'd need to put him in the ground before he found out anything.

"You can talk to me after this if you want to." Shepard offered.

"Thanks."

We stepped out of the shuttle into the hot sun.

"My shields are getting fried, stay away from the sun before it burns out your power cells." I stole dialogue right there as I stepped into the shade.

"Everyone stay away from the sun, it'll fry your shields and stop shield regeneration."

"Hehehe, glad the sun can't melt armor." Grunt rubbed it in, flashing a toothy smile.

We walked over to the first area where we had to open the gate. "I can get this open Shepard, there's a log over there of what happened here if you want to take a look." I tapped a single button and I was allowed in. Why can't anything be this simple?

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Tali and the data are all that matters." The log cut out.

"Well I guess we know what happened to most of the Quarians." Garrus observed.

"We can't help them standing around, move it people, I don't want to be walking away from this mission with a squad of dead Quarians." We all shuffled out and into the next area.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Watch out Shepard, we have a dropship inbound!" I warned. We watched as Geth reinforcements got deployed.

"Weapons free!" Shepard shouted and we opened fire.

Grunt rushed into the thick of it and got most of their attention while Garrus and Shepard put down suppressive fire. I picked off the stragglers and everyone they missed with headshots. I shot two Geth and Shepard picked off the third. It looked clear, but I looked ahead and saw a bit more Geth coming at us.

"Shepard there's hostile Geth ahead!"

And we proceeded to rain bullets on them (I don't know if they were even bullets at all) and a firefight broke out.

I cloaked and moved in with my pistol. And while Grunt caused a ruckus I shot one Geth in the head and siphoned another with that fancy tool Legion gave me. At that point my cloak had already fizzed out and I turned around. And saw a Geth right there.

I should have used my Omni-blade but I recklessly forgot and tried to punch it. It grabbed my fist and was just about to throw one at me, but before that could happen his head was erased from existence.

"Next time, don't lose your cool." Shepard deadpanned.

"I should've drawn my Omni-blade." I muttered, that was careless move, I had to be more careful next time I tried something like that.

"Alright everyone, I think that's all the Geth in this section, move forward."

We moved forward to where the Quarians die from the Geth. But Shepard did something I didn't think he'd do. He ran forward really fast and shot the head off of one Geth. Then he did the same to the other two. I guess he put a lot of points into adrenaline rush, because that was fast. I wonder if me being here had something to do with it? That was completely non-canon and I didn't even try to change it at all. I guess it just changes small things, like Jedore not saying anything over the loudspeaker until we were halfway through. I just hope this doesn't change something major, like I don't know, Joker not making it through the debris field in the Omega 4 relay mission.

The rest of the squad walked around the corner, to see Shepard talking with the three Quarians.

"Thank you, if you had arrived just a second late we all would've died." The presumably Higher ranking officer said.

"All in a day's work, now do you know where Tali is? We need to get to her." Shepard asked.

"She's a little further ahead, but they got a Geth Colossus there, and we were sent back to make sure no geth could sneak in from behind, but we were ambushed before you arrived."

That's when the good Captain radioed.

"OP-1 this is squad leader Kal'Reegar, do you copy?"

"This is OP-1 we copy, we have a human named Commander Shepard is here."

"Shepard? Well we could definitely use the assistance over here. My men are getting swarmed and the Colossus has us pinned down, can you provide assistance?"

"We can, we'll be there as soon as possible."

"Patching in my coordinates, get over here as soon as possible we're taking heavy fire and require fire support."

We walked over and saw the two Quarians fighting, and the dropship arrived just like it did in the game. It killed the two quarians and then the stupid pillar fell.

"Darn, the path is blocked, grab the demo charges in the nearby building and clear a path." Reegar suggested like in the games. Then an idea popped into my head.

"Shepard, why don't we just climb over it ourselves?" We could definitely assist each other to climb over it and that would be a lot faster."

"He's right, we may be able to vault over it" One of the Quarians chimed in.

"Alright, le-" Shepard was interrupted as the geth dropship came in for another round. That's odd, it only came when you went for the demo charges. Oh well, better to have only one wave of Geth reinforcements instead of two.

It dropped off several regular geth soldiers and a prime.

"Watch out, that's a Prime!" I shouted.

"Everyone take down the regular geth, Grunt and Tom, distract that Prime!"

While Grunt rushed in and punished the Prime's shields with his shotgun I cloaked myself and flanked him. I tried using the Omni-siphon thingy, but it didn't work, my power draw was too low for that kind of shielding and armor. So I went with the next best thing and drew my Omni-blade. I waited for Grunt to take out his shields and then sliced the huge cord on it's back. The effect was immediate, the Prime started seizing rapidly and then short circuited and died.

"Wow." I muttered as the Prime fell. Fortunately the rest of the Geth were taken care of by the other 5 other people.

"Ok everyone move up, and Tom, drinks on me tonight." I laughed.

We walked up to the pillar, which was the same height as Shepard.

"Alright, OP-1 watch for more geth reinforcements as we clear the pillar." Shepard ordered.

"Grunt, and Garrus, I need you guys to give me a small foothold with your hands, do it." Garrus didn't even need to help, since Grunt was really strong. Shepard managed to vault over the pillar with little difficulty. Garrus was up next, and Shepard helped him up, it was even easier since Shepard helped. I was up next, and then I got up really really easily with the assistance of two people.

"Alright, Op-1 get over here." Shepard shouted.

This was also not a problem since the Guarians were lighter than a human, soon we had the whole squad up.

Now the real problem was getting Grunt up here, I'm pretty sure he weighed more than 350 pounds, and that was an issue. But he was slightly taller than the pillar.

"Grunt, you're going to have to run to build up your momentum. Then jump up and grab our hands."

"Got it Shepard."

Grunt ran faster than I expected. He was a Krogan super soldier though so I guess that is to be expected. He jumped almost two thirds the way up, and we managed to barely pull him over the top.

"Oh shit! We got a geth dropship inbound!" I shouted.

"Everyone in, NOW!" Everyone rushed. We dropped down from the pillar and quickly ran inside.

I was the last one in and I saw the dropship charging weapons. "Shit" I muttered before closing the door and breaking the opening mechanism, just as the ship fired.


	18. Chapter 18: Contiguous

A huge explosion was heard outside.

"Phew." Had I been a second later I would've been absolutely disintegrated.

"We're okay for now, just hurry, we don't have much time before they breach the doors." Shepard said.

I walked over to the same console Tali was at. She wasn't there yet, but I didn't expect her to be because we were here earlier then in the games. I tried lifting the lockdown, but it was physically impossible since the command terminal was busted, I couldn't hack my way through this one, none of the other consoles here were made to issue those kinds of commands, it would take too long to reprogram one.

"Dang it!" I shouted in frustration.

"What is it?" One of the quarians asked.

"We're stuck here until someone contacts us from this terminal, since its physically impossible to hack the lockdown with the command terminal broken." I huffed in annoyance.

"Let me see what I can do." The Quarian squad leader said. He walked over and tried to hack the terminal, when that failed he tried to use the command terminal but that didn't work either.

"I can't override it either, we're stuck." Then he walked off because his commanding officer called for him.

Then yours truly began calling base camp.

"Tali Zorah to base camp come in base camp."

"What's this?" I activated the transmission, obviously already knowing what it was.

"Tali Zorah, come in."

"Who's this?"

"I'm Tom Fisher, but that isn't important now, Shepard get over here, now!"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Shepard get over here now!" Tom shouted across the room.

"What is it now?" I asked in annoyance.

"Tali Zorah just called."

"I'm coming!" I ran over to the terminal where Tom was.

"Tali?"

"Shepard you show up at the strangest times! I'm not being ungrateful though."

"Right, can you help with the door over here? My best hacker, Tom can't get it open."

"Right... Should be open now, be careful, the Geth are right outside my door, and they have a Colossus covering it, so you have to be careful."

"Copy that, Shepard out."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Everyone get moving! We're almost to Kal'Reegar!" Shepard commanded.

We walked outside, to see the Colossus firing at us.

"Get down!" One of the Quarian marines shouted.

We rushed downward, to see Kal'Reegar taking cover. I didn't see any of his squad though, I guess we were still too late for that.

"Calvary has arrived!" I announced.

"Where's Shepard?"

"Here."

"Great, all of my men have died, it's good to have some reinforcements, I haven't got shot yet at the least."

"What's the situation?"

"We got a Geth Colossus ahead, it's kept me pinned down. Every route you can take to get closer is really hard to get through with that thing firing bolts of energy at us every time we try to move."

"Right, I think I can solve this problem." Shepard pulled out his M920 Cain.

"EVERYONE GET DOWN!" He shouted and charged the Cain. The shot headed straight for the Colossus.

The explosion was bigger then the one a Geth dropship could cause, it completely obliterated all the Geth in that area, and the Colossus. That explosion seemed bigger here then in the game! Wow it really was the nuke launcher here, there was a miniature mushroom cloud that got swept away by the wind.

"Every lay down fire on the rest of the Geth, now!''

We destroyed the rest of the Geth, with none of them getting fire support from an imaginary Colossus we destroyed them.

"Alright, we're clear, let's get to Tali before more reinforcements arrive." Shepard holstered his gun.

"Thanks for the help Shepard." Kal'Reeger said, grateful.

...

"Hold on, I sealed the doors so that the Geth couldn't get inside." We waited a second. "There, should be open now." The door control turned green and we walked inside.

"I just need to finish this download." She said at the other end of the room.

"So Tali, can you come with us?" Shepard asked.

"Of course, we did this stupid mission just to gather data on stars, and if the Admirals have a problem they can go to hell, I watch half my team get decimated in this mission, and for what? Fancy sun readings?"

"At least we're still here." Kal'Reegar and Op-1 walked into the lab.

"I'm glad you survived, thanks to Shepard, saving me twice on both Horizon and now here. Thanks for limiting the casualties."

"It's my specialty, you ready now?"

"I am, Reegar, take my Omni-tool data, it contains all the information on why the star in this system is weird." She tapped a couple buttons.

"Thanks Tali, be safe, I'll tell the admiralty board of your decision, despite the fact that they may have no choice in the matter."

"They won't, and I don't care about them now."

"Shepard to Normandy, we need a shuttle to pick us up, sending coordinates."

"Roger that Shepard."

...

I walked into the shuttle, right behind Tali.

"Shepard I hope your Cerberus team isn't the one that threatened the safety of the migrant fleet."

I interrupted him, having planned for this.

"Tali, everyone in the current shuttle isn't Cerberus, and I've checked the history of all the people on the Normandy, most of them are all Alliance washouts."

"And you are...?"

I took off my helmet and offered her a hand.

"I'm Tom Fisher, master hacker."

"I was actually really happy when Tom came aboard, Tali he's probably the only one that could match you in terms of technical skill, but he does seem to be a bit of a Mingler."

"A Mingler? What does that even mean?"

"I heard about it from Joker, it's an office term or something, it means someone who gets to know everyone in the room, through contacts or otherwise."

"What ever, we'll see how good he is when I get aboard the Normandy."

...

I stepped off the shuttle and headed for the elevator. Everyone else behind me. The elevator ride was, awkward to say the least, at least the elevator wasn't as slow as in the original games, that would've been painful. It was a little less awkward when Garrus and Grunt were gone though.

"Have fun with the little meeting." I snickered.

"What's so funny?"

"Oh nothing, you have a small debrief with Shepard and someone else, I'll let you figure that out for yourself." I didn't give her a glance as I walked over to the bridge.

...

"I don't know who you are, but Cerberus threatened the safety of the Migrant fleet, so don't make nice."

''I think that's enough Jacob, get back to your post." I could see why Tom was chuckling before.

"Commander." He nodded respectfully, and left.

"I didn't ever think you'd work for Cerberus, I actually thought you were going to blow Cerberus up from the inside." Tali paused. "If that's the case, I'll loan you a grenade, otherwise I'm here for you, not for them."

There was a small noise that was heard before Shepard talked.

"I actually plan on doing that, they're working for me, I'm not working for them, I just saying, if I had a chance I would put a bullet to place where it deserves to be, in the Illusive man's head."

"Glad to see you're still the same Shepard, I'll be on engineering if you need anything." She walked out the door.

...

What the hell was he thinking?" Shepard may want to shoot the Illusive man, and I don't blame him either, but he was talking in a BUGGED room. I had just disabled those thing just before he would say that, I couldn't have the Illusive man spying on the Commander. I'll have to compensate for now, but he needs to be told. The bugs on the bridge had already been disabled, so I can tell Shepard there, I just hope the Illusive man isn't getting suspicious. I sent a quick message to him, I hope it would work, because non-canon or canon, the Illusive man can't know that Shepard wants him dead.

...

"Something you need Tom?"

"Well, don't you DARE say your desire to put a bullet in the Illusive man's head because, this is still a Cerberus ship, and if I hadn't found and disabled the bugs in the room you and Tali were talking at the Illusive man would've known."

"That was intentional, he needs to know that this isn't a partnership, it's only going to be like this until we destroy the Collectors."

"Just try not to get yourself killed, the Cerberus second in command is on this ship, and I'd rather you not have to kill Miranda or Jacob."

"Thanks Tom, see you later."

Well that worked, although the Illusive man still definitely needs to die, it's such a shame he seems a little allergic to death, especially in the games. Now I'll call Tali, just to see if she still wants to challenge me.

"Tom? How'd you already get a fix on my Omni-tool?" So predictable, I hate having to meet all the squad members again.

"You've already underestimated my hacking skills, you wanted a challenge? I must say that your Omni-tool was much better secured, but seriously? A passcode? That's super easy to hack past, I would recommend you use a retina scan, although I think it only works for people that don't hide behind a mask."

"Shut up! I bet I'm better at engineering then you are."

"You probably are, but I'm definitely better at hacking, I'll meet you on the engineering deck."

...

"So, Tali right? I'm glad we have at least one other tech person that is actually decent at using technology.

"I'm just glad you're not Cerberus, they thre-"

"I get it, is there anything else you want to say?" Man she is a lot less innocent than in the original Mass effect.

"Not particularly, so how good are you exactly?"

"Probably better than you." I said cheekily.

"Hmph you said the same thing in the call, you seem to have an awfully big ego, is that the right human word?"

"You're right in both pronouncing the word and the fact that I have a big ego, now, to see if you really are good, hack past my own Omni-tool."

I could almost scoff at that, the only time I had ever been counter-hacked was when I was new to the business, back in 2011. I was a novice back then, I was super unaware of how many skilled hackers were out there.

"I'm in, but I don't have access to any of your data files, I'll try to get past into your encryption in data storage 7539."

I mentally screamed at myself. If she got in I was 100% fucked, that was my guide to Mass Effect and if she got into it then I was totally screwed, and so was canon, I just hope the the triple encryption and retina and finger scanner held. I wiped a bead of sweat from my forehead, which luckily no one noticed.

...

"Nope, I'm locked out, that was a seriously tough encryption, why do you even need to protect that file? Oh keelah, I'm sorry if anything really important was in there."

"Yeah, some memories that are best forgotten." I said, forlorn.(That was 100% acting though)

"Yep, you're better, but my engineer skills are better."

"They are, I'm an Infiltrator, not an engineer."

"You want to share some tips with me? I haven't hacked much since the last time I was with Shepard, which was a long time ago, mind you, the admiralty board is horrible at deciding where I should go for missions, I haven't seen much action where I actually had to hack something."

"Of course, I can give you a couple pointers.." I let my mind trail off to the fact that I just had an extremely close call.


	19. Chapter 19: Expatiation

**The only dlc person I couldn't afford was Javik. To all the Javik fans out there, I'm sorry I couldn't afford the dlc for him.**

"Joker, set a course for Omega."

"Yes Commander, what for?"

"I got an email from the Illusive man, some bounty hunter's joining us."

"Roger that Commander, ETA 3 hours."

Wait, Zaeed was joining us? Well that was nice, I heard he was a serious badass, and he had someone of the best weapons and powers in the game, it was a shame I didn't buy him back in my previous life, I only bought Kasumi, and that was it. Funny to think about it now, considering this game was reality instead of fiction. I don't think I'd ever be able to tell them where I was really from, it would compromise my most lethal weapon, my intelligence of future events.

Also the fact that if I would sound like a crazy person if I ever told them, the idiot who says fiction is stranger than truth is dead wrong, I find most times that the opposite is true. I've had some weird hacking jobs in the past, but they paid well, so I didn't question any of them. I never questioned any of my jobs, because in my previous line of work curiosity would get you killed 100% of the time, I knew that my clients would not hesitate to kill me if I asked too much.

"Hey, earth to Tom! You're spacing out again!" Joker shouted, snaping a finger in front of my face, which woke me up.

"Oh, right! Sorry I was deep in thought for a moment there."

"There's so many things I wish I knew about you, yet you know everyone here like they're bloody family! If you didn't have hacking skills I would've thought you've known us all before this happened." Oh geez that's a dangerous line of thought for me, better end it there.

"Mind if I tell Shepard about your Fornax col-"

"SHUT UP TOM! Also remind me to shoot you later for that."

"You sure your bones can handle that Mr. Moreau?" I asked mockingly.

"You are such an ass at times you know that?"

"I've known the first two hundred times everyone else has told me that."

"And I hope I got my point across now."

"Shutting up, Joker."

"Thank you, at least EDI is 'polite' in that matter."

...

"Miranda, Mordin, and Grunt report to the shuttle bay." Shepard's voice, commanding as ever, ringed over the intercom.

"I'm going to go eat something Joker, don't break a bone while I'm gone."

"Yeah yeah, I'll get back at you later."

I walked over to the elevator, right where Mordin was. I didn't even attempt at conversation, he'd probably have my head spinning in less than a minute if I did try. Miranda stepped on. We went down another floor before I realized something. Well crap, I was too deep in thought to get off when Miranda was getting on, darn it. I'll get off at the engineering deck, then wait for it to be a available.

I stepped off and let Grunt get on, phew. It would've been pretty cluttered in there with a big Krogan, oh well I think I'll just go talk to Tali or the other two engineers while I wait. But my line of thought was completely destroyed when I walked right into Jack as the door opened.

"Shit, sorry Tom, I was just going to eat something."

"I'm waiting right now, you wanna talk or something?"

"Yeah sure, don't know what shit there is to talk about, but what ever."

"Don't you get hungrier than a normal biotic, since you have much more powerful biotics then a normal person?"

"No, I think I can eat less than a normal biotic, probably something the scientists did when they were doing shit to me." This was a very antagonist conversation.

"On Pragia right? That place actually went against Cerberus protocol, they were supposed to get the best potential out of kids in least painful way." I struck a nerve at that point.

"What the hell do you know about that place?" Well shit, I shouldn't have done that, now she'd be all over me if I crossed another line.

"A lot more then I let on Jack." Well I guess that fancy energy deflector made to deflect a tech or biotic power was about to get field tested, unfortunately my ass was on the line this time.

Her biotics flared. "What the hell do you want?! I went through insane torture in that place, what is it that you know that I couldn't, having a first hand experience!"

"Calm down! I know that someone escaped and that one other person escaped, it wasn't just you."

She threw a warp at me. Well shit, I activated the burst of energy, it deflected the warp and weakened it, it bounced harmlessly off the side, but I don't think I'll be able to deflect a shockwave.

"Bullshit! I was the strongest and the only one that made it out alive, I was the strongest, that's why I survived."

"Calm down right now! It isn't important right now, but I can tell you more about it when you aren't trying to kill me."

"Fine! But you better tell me!"

The elevator ride was tense, and seemed to last forever. I hope she doesn't go batshit in the elevator because I might end up dead doing that, dang it, why was Joker so right in me being an ass? It's landed me in a lot of unfavorable situations. Me and my mouth.

...

"So you're telling me that this kid named Aresh escaped as well?" Jack asked curiously.

"Yeah, but he was all kinds of messed up, he actually LIKED being there."

"What the hell?! I wasn't even that messed up."

"Yeah, the guards let him out shortly after you escaped, something about a guard disobeying an order and letting him out, then a shuttle log shows Aresh leaving the planet, I don't know where he got the money though."

"He probably looted the guards after they all died, that's what I did anyway."

"Geez that sounds pretty brutal."

"For me, brutal is something I'm used to everyday, you wouldn't lasted a day where I was."

"That place was designed to make the best biotics possible, and you were the prime subject, despite the absolute brutal tests, it technically DID work, you are the strongest biotic I've ever seen."

"Doesn't make that shit right, they tortured me in there, I hated every second of it."

"Of course! Torture is wrong, and there was so many human rights violations in that one facility that there is probably 70 different reasons why they could've been shut down."

I leaned forward, voice low. "And between you and me, I heard Shepard actually plans to blow Cerberus up, don't say it at loud though."

She grinned like a kid in a candy shop, but didn't say anything, phew. Glad she wasn't as vocal about it as Shepard, those bugs are still around.

"Thanks for that, Cerberus has done some fucked up shit to me, I'll be down in engineering." She said before stalking off.

"Okay, see you later."

I walked off into the crew's quarters. That talk was pretty intense, but I handled it well, makes me wonder what would happen if I also tried to stop the fight between Miranda and Jack. I lay down in bed, deep in thought. I think I'd stall them until Shepard arrives, here's hoping Shepard had invested enough points in the Paragon category to handle the situation. I mentally smacked myself. I still hadn't gotten better at thinking this was not a game and was really real life.

Yeah, I just hope when there Reapers actually strike I'm not a casualty, I need to help Shepard at the mars archives, I needed to prevent Cerberus of ever getting the location of that temple, and I needed to tell Shepard that the citadel was the catalyst when the time came. I could rest now, the Reapers hadn't come yet, I had time, they couldn't come yet.

...

"What the hell?" I got up not in my bed, but in a strange dark grey void.

"Where the hell am I?" I looked around, the void was endless, nothing different off in any direction.

"This must be a dream." I muttered.

I've never had dreams this lucid before, why now? I usually just watched something happen in my dreams and I couldn't move, but here it was just like real life, apart from the complete lack of anything rather than myself. Fortunately for me I knew a trick to get up again. If I rose my heart beat to a high enough level my body would be forced to wake up, so I started running around.

I kept running for a long time. Just before I woke up I saw something, something that was black in color, and huge in scope. I woke up right after that.

What the actual hell? I've never had a dream like that ever before, and something was eerily familiar when I was in that strange place. I felt strange presence, but I couldn't put my finger on it. It was like trying to remember something just on the tip of your tongue. I could almost place what it was, but not quite. I'll find out later, right now I got a galaxy to help save.

I got up and left the room, deciding to walk over to check the crew deck. I saw Garrus there, eating something out of a small tube, I realized in disgust that it was food paste.

"Yuck, isn't that stuff absolutely repulsive?" I asked.

"It's not that bad, but I can see why everyone else think it's disgusting. It's just some nutrient paste, it tastes awful, but you make do with what you have."

"Don't turians all have that same idea? 'The needs of the group outweigh the individual' or something like that?" I was curious to know what he thought of that, it was never in canon so hey, give me some freedom alright?"

"I'm no decent turian." He said, forlorn.

"I think I'm going to interrupt you there, Garrus." I needed to tell him what the fanbase wanted to tell him.

"You're a hero, Garrus. Not like Shepard, but in your own way. You cover his back, and he probably wouldn't have been alive now if you weren't doing just that. You stopped Saren and his Geth army, you've more honor than most turians, despite abandoning your career at C-sec. Also don't ask me where I knew about your C-sec career, I hacked into that one morning, just don't tell anyone."

Garrus looked surprised.

"And in the end, you're a general badass as well, so don't go saying you aren't a decent turian. You're probably better then a lot of them, since you probably put a couple bullets in Saren, also you helped saved the galaxy as an added bonus."

"I only have one question left after all of that."

"Yeah?"

"What does 'badass' mean?" I mentally face palmed.

...

I was back on the bridge now. Explaining to Garrus the human saying was almost comical, I had to settle for a 'good person who doesn't follow bad orders' otherwise he would've taken it the wrong way. I should've prepared for that dang it! I hate it when I do that, oh well.

"Shepard to Normandy. We have the mercenary, and are making our way back."

I spoke into his headset. "Copy that Shepard, we're ready when you are."


	20. Chapter 20: Grimace

"So where are we going, boss man?" Jack asked, her tone held a slight sarcastic remark.

"We're going to talk to Liara, she should be able to find out where Thane is." Shepard stepped out of the airlock, along with me, Jack and Zaeed.

"I'm personally in the mood to shoot something." I grumbled, I had lost a bet with Miranda earlier.

"You'll get that chance, come on, Liara is just up these stairs."

"Shepard, is something else I can do for you?" Wait, she already talked to him before this? How? He hadn't gone to Illium before.

"Yes, I need to find Thane, he's an assassin I need to recruit."

"I don't know too much, my sources tell me he may be targeting a high level executive, I don't know much other then that, but I know who will know more."

...

"Tom, you were an assassin yourself, of sorts, do you know anything that might be helpful?" Shepard asked. We were walking to Seryna's office currently.

"I excelled in some pretty sneaky tactics, I liked to disable the lights then go in cloaked, I'm betting he'll try infiltration through the ducts or such, since it's what I did to get onto the second floor when you found me, but I'm not that good, I could only climb one floor before and I couldn't get higher after that."

"Thanks for the tip, also we'll be battling a lot of mercs, I guess that should be a treat for you right now?''

"Killing mercs always seems to calm me, even if fighting in general is supposed to be a stressful thing." We walked into the area where Seryna is supposed to meet Shepard.

"This looks like it'll take a little while, you guys can relaxed here for a while." For Zaeed and Jack, that was a welcome break, they were deep in conversation on their favorite ways to kill someone, which is something I found too morbid to take part in. I decided to check out the Extranet, I hadn't had seen much of it, I was usually occupied with something else.

I started looking at some of the sites they had. It was really neat with the hologram display and I had graphics better then any phone. It was about ten minutes later that Shepard tapped on my shoulder and I turned around.

"Something you need?" I asked.

"Just wanted to talk, we'll be waiting for four hours, and Zaeed is having a very morbid conversation with Jack about how he made a Krogan cry like a baby after sticking a knife under his plate, splitting it open." Ugh, a bit too much information there.

"I haven't had much time to talk other then in combat either, so a little downtime wouldn't hurt, what do you want to talk about?"

"Well, you haven't said much about yourself." Oh shit, I guess I might have to lie through my teeth here, even if I felt horrible lying to Shepard.

"Why were you killing mercs? You seemed to have a personal vendetta against them."

I sure hope he doesn't look this up or investigate it. "I used to be a family man, I was a security guard at one point, I worked the night shift, but one night when I got back home in the morning my entire family was sort of, gone." I sure hope I can pull this off.

"There was a ransom note there, for 500,000 credits. The authorities refused to pay it, and I couldn't rack up that kind of money, then my family was executed, I saw the footage of it happening, I miss them so much." I feigned sadness through my voice, glad my helmet prevented showing my facial features.

"It's okay if you no longer want to continue, although I can't really say I've lived through that, I only had one person that fitted the whole family description, my mom, I'm sorry for your loss." Shepard has to get bonus paragon for that if this is a game.

"Thanks Shepard, you're a real paragon." Oh shit I just let that slip didn't I?

"A what?" Fortunately that was an actual word, it meant something that is excellent, the more you know, after all."

"It means someone who is amazing in what they do, for you its being good with both words and a gun at the same time."

"I tend to be told that I'm a good negotiator." Shepard chuckled.

That was too close, I better not slip up again, especially with something serious, or I could end up with Shepard sending me off this ship, believing I was mentally insane. Makes me flinch, at how close I was, I actually physically flinched too, but the helmet helped again.

"How are so good at what you do anyway? A night guard doesn't do much."

"A man who has nothing to lose can do a lot of things, those first few months were brutal, don't ask." That was a lot more cold then I wanted it to be.

"I'll stop now, I guess your past gets you all touchy, I'll find out what else bothers you later, right now I guess it's your turn to ask a couple questions."

"Yeah, to everyone you're like the manliest man ever, you show no fear, I've always wanted to ask you on casual things, like you're favorite colour for example."

"It's dark red, I like the colour of my N7 armor, I guess I do seem a little intimidating, it's because I have to professional in front of everyone, glad you like to ask some care free questions."

"Also, what do you think of Garrus? I'm just curious, you guys seem like you have a long history, Tali as well."

"They both are the only ones that were also on the original Normandy, I just have already met them before and I trust them both with my life, that's why I have such a history with them, also Garrus is a badass, but don't tell him that."

"I already did earlier, and it was awkward explaining it to him, believe me."

"I was going to tell him, but I thought it would go straight to his head, did he?" I laughed at that thought.

"No, he wanted to know what that meant, it was a little weird explaining it to him."

...

"Alright I'll drop you off near the entrance, it's all you from there, Shepard."

"Why don't we just fly all the way up?" He asked.

"They have mercenaries with rocket launchers there, just waiting for you to try that." She landed the air car and we all exited the vehicle.

"Good luck Shepard."

"Thanks." The air car flew away. I watched the poor workers get shot and killed.

Shepard motioned, and we opened fire, destroying the first couple mechs.

"Shepard, we should check for survivors."

"Yep." Shepard and co. walked over to where the half dead Salarian was.

"h-help."

Shepard walked over and immediately applied some Medi-gel, unlike in the games, but I guess a real life Mass Effect would generally be different, just cause, you know, we aren't bound by canon.

"Are you alright?"

"Yes, thank you for that, Nassana wanted us out of the way, immedietely, she sent the mechs to round us up, but we didn't hear."

"You should be safe now, the lower floors should be safer."

"Yes, I'll do that, thank you." The Salarian left.

"You think he'll actually make it?" I asked.

"I hope, but that isn't our problem, come on." We walked through the hallway into the other area, where several mercs were at.

"Contacts!" One of them shouted.

"Kill them!"

Those mercs were vicious, rushing us and trying to kill us almost immediately, I siphoned one, and Jack sent a shock wave, throwing a bunch of mercs to the side. I stopped the siphon and quickly went for the stab, killing the guy. I then engaged my cloak and flanked several other mercs. Seeing Shepard being almost pinned down I sniped one of them point blank. When the other guy turned around Shepard shot him in the back.

"Never turn your back in a firefight." Shepard advised. The room was clear.

"Move up."

...

We walked to the part where the elevator was, and I engaged cloak after Shepard gave the go ahead. I flanked the unsuspecting enemies, then Shepard whispered into the comms.

"We engage on your mark."

"Mark!" I shouted and stabbed an asari vanguard in the gut, and Shepard and co. opened fire, covering my escape, allowing me to get to cover, re-engage my cloak and get back in the action. I then stabbed a Salarian engineer in the face, and Shepard sniped another one who tried to shoot me.

"We're clear, good job everyone!" Shepard holstered.

"Jessie here gets the job done, every time."

"Cloaking is officially overpowered now."

"I wish I was so tech-savy." Shepard pressed the button to open the elevator, but it blinked red, and didn't call.

"Tom, fix this, I have no idea why it isn't working."

I went to work immediately. I eavesdropped as Jack accidentally opened the door to the three Salarians. I could almost chuckle as Jack struggled with diplomacy, before Shepard helped, she had a horrible childhood after all. I fixed the elevator issue just as it said it was coming down. The three Salarians were all gone when I turned around.

"Shepard, that elevator isn't coming down empty."

"Right, everyone take defensive positions!"

As the elevator door opened I engaged my cloak, wanting some sneaky kills. Zaeed and Jack handled the Technician and biotic, at least I think she was a biotic, it was just that huge Krogan that was a problem. Shepard tried shooting at him a couple times, but he shrugged it off. I decided to go for him, and I stabbed him in the gut. Instead of falling he just turned around and grabbed me by the throat.

"I will grind you into dust, pyjack!" His grip started crushing my windpipe, but then I remembered something. With my last bit of strength I lunged for his head plate, lodging my Omni-blade under his plate, I moved the serrated edge up ward, splitting the plate wide open. The effect was immediate. The Krogan released me from his grip and started bawling like a child, and then Shepard shot him in the head after finally piercing his shields.

Zaeed was laughing. "Hahaha! Kid you remind me of myself, I did that exact same thing to Krogan too, fucker didn't know what hit him, ha!"

"Alright, everyone in the elevator, you can talk there."

...

I was silent on the way up, despite Zaeed complimenting me, I didn't delight in killing people, it was just necessary, I didn't delight in seeing the Krogan die like that, I shoved those thoughts aside, I could break down in private, I had a reputation to maintain after all, glad I always wore my helmet in combat though, they couldn't see me grimace at least.

* * *

 **This is approximately halfway through my story, if you've read this far thank you, the rest of the chapters except for the last couple are a cringe fest until I edit them. Reviews are welcome, and I encourage you to leave one if you feel I deserve it, although I can understand why you wouldn't.**


	21. Chapter 21: Antipathy

The door opened, and the merc was standing there, just like in the game. Shepard and everyone else approached slowly, and as soon as he got off the radio Shepard spoke.

"Turn around, slowly." The merc turned around.

"Fuck."

"Do you know where the assassin is?" Shepard asked.

"Look buddy, even if I knew, I wouldn't tell you." Shepard grabbed him by the neck.

"Look, I'm not here to deal with your bullshit, tell us what you need to know or I'll throw you out the building!" Shepard shouted angrily, he relaxed his grip just a bit so the merc could speak freely.

"Fine fine, we think he's in the tower under construction, but we don't know where."

"Leave now, I don't think getting shot was on your job interview, was it?"

"I'm going." The merc left down the elevator we used.

No one said anything as we walked into the room where Nassana demands a report. There was a huge, one sided skirmish. We absolutely and utterly destroyed them. The resistance was almost laughable but I realized it wasn't crappy security, but in reality we were so ridiculously good that nothing even compared to us. We walked right past the room with the other three Salarians, pity, but oh well.

"Report, anyone report!"

"Sorry Nassana, their all dead."

"Fuck!" She shut down the comms after that.

"I think she needs to bulk up her security." Zaeed commented.

"Nah, we're just THAT good." I smirked.

We walked up, and out to the outside part of the mission. I was laying back and sniping them while everyone else was causing a distraction, it reminded me of the fighting in WW2 where there would always be a sniper that would pick someone off, or so I've seen in some of the books. Then we got to the actual bridge part, and the fighting got a whole lot more fierce. The drones overhead had us pinned down.

"Tom, get those drones the hell of our back!" Shepard shouted.

"I got it!" I started rapidly breaching firewalls, stopping only to fire an incinerate at an Asari commando. I hacked them both simultaneously and set them to self destruct, removing the advantage the mercs had.

"The drones are gone, open fire!" I shouted, laying covering fire down to allow them to get back into the fight. Shepard started picking the mercs off, one by one, and Jack used shock wave immediately to disrupt them. After that battle we ventured to the end where the elevator was. Even though there was another Asari commando there we tore her to shreds with bullets almost immediately. We entered the elevator, pushing for the penthouse.

...

The door opened, there was Nassana, with so many guards I think we'd have trouble actually fighting them.

"Wait! Before you kill me, just tell me who you work for."

"Oh no one, I was just taking a stroll into your office to meet you." Shepard said sarcastically. Then the vent noises were heard. Nassana, paranoid sent for the guards to check the other entrances.

"...And you, stay put." She said commandingly, despite her not holding any power here that I knew of.

I watched Thane's expert skills as he took out all of the guards without a sidearm, stealing one instead of having one, and then executing Nassana, textbook perfect. He preyed for a little bit, and Shepard surprisingly stayed quiet the whole time, I'm kind of glad he did though, I think it was offensive if you actually did that in real life when a Christian was in prayer. Ugh, why do I keep thinking that? This IS real life, just a parallel dimension that is shockingly familiar to a video game.

I tuned out when Thane actually talked, Jack wanted to ask me something.

"Yeah?" Why now of all things?

"How the hell do you handle that big sniper rifle? I can't work any gun besides a pistol and sub-machine gun, ever, I find those bigger guns too heavy to use, and they take up space on my back, and it weighs me down."

"Well, we're all are good in different things, I don't understand how you do biotics, but its completely natural to me when it comes to sniping and hacking and the like.

"Yeah, I get that, biotics are natural to me too, just I don't understand how you and Shepard can carry such big weapons with no problems, you guys aren't particularly ripped either." She better not hope Shepard heard that, shots were just fired, bang bang.

"Shut up Jack! The only reason you win every single test in strength is because you use biotics." She smirked.

"Alright, enough yabbering, we need to get back to the Normandy before more mercs arrive." Shepard ordered.

...

"So, Tom did that assassin finally beat you in terms of stealth?" Jacob asked, I was currently dropping off my weapons in the armory.

"Of course not! I have to admit he has some serious martial art skills, but I beat him in terms of stealth and technical wizardry."

"You'd beat anyone in tech skills, you're the best hacker I've ever seen, makes me wonder how you do all of that, it's easy when you get to know it right?"

"It took me a while, but I got good after a lot of jobs, but that's enough talk for now, I'd better be getting back to the bridge."

...

I sat down again, getting comfortable with the ship systems again, it was like a small vacation for myself. Thane was always a cool character, and his biotics were spot on, I wish I was a little more dedicated though, my physical body left a lot to be desired, and I could barely throw a decent punch, I was much better when I had all my toys, which sucks if I was caught unarmed. I didn't notice Shepard walk into the bridge.

"Hey Tom, you said you wanted to talk to me?" Shepard asked.

"Yes, preferably in your cabin."

"Come up then, you have a bit to talk about."

The elevator ride to the cabin was quick, and didn't leave me much time to think about. Vincent had somehow gotten out of jail, and had built up a little reputation, and somehow he had information on me, and I could NOT let that be told to anyone, luckily the police got little out of the interrogation, since at the time all he had was a poor description of my face.

I walked into Shepard's office. Good thing all the bugs were disabled, I couldn't be sure all the time on the bridge, although I was pretty sure.

"So, something on your mind?" Shepard asked

"Yeah, the only merc boss(If you could call him that) I let live has information on me, I can't let him live, he's the only loose end that I have, I can't have him talking, I have no idea how he got more information on me after he got out of prison, but he does, and if he speaks my cover is blown, in fact I'm surprised he hasn't spoken yet, I wasn't really friendly with him."

"Alright, when we have time I'll set a course for where exactly?"

"The same place I was recruited at, Earth. I believe he's still at his same hideout, but I bet security is probably much much better now then before."

"Alright, but I just got a priority call from the Illusive man, so not now, thanks for the talk Tom."

"It's nice getting things off your back instead of just having them nagging at you all the time." I said as we both went back down the elevator to the CIC.

The elevator stopped at the CIC and we both got out. I already knew what would happen, we would be called to hit the Collector ship, I hope those security measures I installed in the Normandy hold up against the Collector attack. What am I thinking? That is Reaper technology, I doubt my security will last more then a second, because of how sophisticated they are, EDI even mentions it in the game.

"So, what problems do you have?" Joker asked.

I prepared a snarky remark, but then the coordinates the Illusive man sends popped up on my console.

"Never mind, we got stuff to do." Joker said busily.

"Joker you got the coordinates?" Shepard asked.

"Yes Shepard, it's actually close to where we're at, we should be there in 1 hour and 30 minutes."

"Alright, Tom grab your gear, Thane and Grunt are coming with us."

I walked out of the armory, fully geared up. That actually reminded me. Why are we doing this mission now? I clearly remember doing the collector ship after 5 missions, not 3 or however many we've done after horizon I can barely remember. Small changes I guess, my information was getting far less spot on, and more vague. I knew stuff, but it would be less reliable then before, I better be careful in what I disrupt, but screw canon, I can do what I want to make this a better and easier fight for Shepard.

I waited for the elevator to go down, stopping at the crew deck, where Thane got on, and then Grunt got on in engineering. We walked out of the elevator and into the cargo bay, where Shepard was with the shuttle.

"Everyone in, this is a time sensitive mission, so don't dawdle." Shepard said.

We got in and the shuttle departed, going to the creepy Collector ship. We exited the shuttle, everyone had a helmet. I looked around, it looked more realistic, which equated to much more creepy, I was honestly creeped out, despite knowing we weren't going to be ambushed, or so I hope.

"Anyone even a little creeped out?" I asked.

"I just find this design weird, and probably inefficient, but don't quote me on that." Shepard said.

"I find it a little odd." Thane said.

We walked forward, seeing the pods, okay things like that were borderline repulsive now. It was ok in the games, but just ok. Now it was actually disgusting, I'm glad they aren't being turned into crazy aliens like in the hollywood movies.

"Shepard I detect no signs of life in those pods." EDI said.

"The victims must of died when the ship lost power." I pointed out.

"That's a shame, I was actually planning on trying to save some people." Man, Thane is a saint, in the vigilante way.

"Nothing we can do for them now, lets move."

As soon as we got to the human remains I had to repress the urge to puke, ok now it was really disgusting, especially in real life here where the graphics are too real sometimes. I've killed people, but I don't delight in doing so, it's just because they're in my way, or they're just generally bad, but that's my limit, the Reapers are absolutely brutal. they're limit is Human fucking soup, this is an abomination.

"Ugh, that is disgusting." I couldn't help but say that.

"It is a little repulsive." Shepard said, keeping the tough guy facade.

"I would prefer we move on." Thane suggested.

"Please, what's all that equipment over here?" Shepard asked.

I guess I was the tech guy here, I got my Omni-tool out and scanned it.

"They were experimenting on their own kind." I said.

"Why?" Shepard asked.

"They wanted to see the differences between Humans and themselves, oh my." Pro acting skills engaged.

"What is it?"

I feigned surprise "if the data here is correct, these Collectors are husked versions of the protheans." Stealing dialogue was fun.

"This is horrific, these things are the empty shells of an entire race, killing them is a mercy." Thane Observed.

"The Reapers are more brutal than we thought, keep moving, I don't like that we haven't been attacked once yet, move on." Shepard commanded.


	22. Chapter 22: Precipitancy

We abandoned the terminal and walked forward, seeing the three really nice weapons that Shepard is supposed to pick to add to his arsenal. I watched him perk up slightly at the craftsmanship of the weapons.

"These are some good weapons, as Commander I get that sniper, you guys can sort out the rest of the guns." Shepard said.

"Haha! This shotgun is amazing! I want it." Grunt joyfully picked up the Claymore heavy shotgun.

"I can't operate a fully automatic rifle, but I'll take it anyway, just in case." I picked up the Renevant, it was lighter then I expected, lucky me. This thing would pack a punch if it came to that, I hope it never did. I wasn't good with recoil, Single shot and semi-auto weapons were better for me, but I'll take it. Poor Thane didn't get anything.

We walked on, I was getting increasingly tense, despite knowing the future this ship was scary. We walked slowly until we were going uphill, then Joker talked, on time of course.

"Shepard, on a hunch I asked EDI to perform an analysis and see if this was the same ship on the Normandy's scanners, you gotta hear this."

EDI's synthesized voice spoke, I'll never get used to it, it's different because this is real life. "Shepard I preformed a scan and cross checked with the original Normandy, this ship matches up with it perfectly."

"The same ship, harassing me for two years? That can't be a coincidence."

"Look out Shepard, something doesn't add up here, watch your back." Joker said before cutting comms.

We walked out into the huge open area with all those pods, it looked much bigger in real life, I felt like a dwarf compared to it, I wonder really how big this ship is, you never see the bridge in this mission. I actually wonder if there is one, or if the Collector general controls in remotely.

"They could abduct every single person in the Terminus systems, and still not have enough to fill those pods." I liked being the one to say the dialogue, it was cool. I never really thought of saying it before, I like that this was apparently an alternate dimension, it made my imagination come true.

"They're going to target Earth, there's no other explanation for why they have all these pods." Thane suggested.

We walked up to the platform where the terminal was.

"Tom, you know how to do this, connect the Normandy here for EDI to get the data, then get out." Shepard commanded.

"Right, I got a link." I should probably be careful, I don't want Shepard blaming me for messing up the Normandy. I started syncing the Normandy and EDI got a connection, rapidly siphoning the data. I made sure to filter the download a little bit, I hope that the reaper IFF data doesn't have the viruses, never mind, I forgot this was a trap, that data was probably a trap.

"Joker, you have a virus incoming I couldn't stop it, be careful!" I stressed.

"Tom is there something wrong?" Shepard asked.

"These firewalls were far too easy, this was a trap." The platform started rapidly rising, making me lose footing.

"EDI, dang it! EDI talk to me! What the hell is going on?!"

"Shepard, they've cut our connection, we're going to need to restore question on our end, but I can't do it now, we have company." I said, watching the other floating platform come around to us.

"Defensive positions, now!" We took cover and started laying down fire against the Collectors, just as we were about to finish one its shields tripled and he started to glow, oh fuck.

 **"Shepard is mine."** Fuck me twice.

"Who the fuck is that?! I never saw them on Horizon!" Shepard shouted.

 **"We are the Harbringer of your perfection."** The Collector started firing dark energy at us **"Shepard is an anomaly, try to keep his body intact for further testing."**

"That thing is destroying us!" Everyone shoot at that glowing thing!" Shepard shouted in between bursts of gunfire. Soon we had all the other collectors dead and Harbinger was no match for four armed people, especially since they were among the best the galaxy had to offer. His body disintegrated afterward, erasing him from existence, at least temporarily.

"Tom work on re-establishing connection, we'll look out for hostiles." I nodded and started breaching the firewalls blocking us from connection to the Normandy.

"Shit, Shepard we got incoming!" Grunt reported, another two of those flying platforms flew in.

"We'll cover you Tom, work on contacting the Normandy!" Shepard yelled, before raining down fire on the battlefield.

The firewalls were sophisticated to say the least, my hacking program was getting there, but it was slower then normal. I had to compensate to stop it from taking days or even weeks, and even still the bar rose excruciatingly slowly. Since I had compensated as best as I could it allowed me time to think. Why hadn't Harbringer come on Horizon? Too many changes to canon, my info was getting worse and worse because of my interference. At least it wasn't game changing, just stuff to notice.

The bar finally filled up and Joker's voice, filled with panic was heard over the comms, Shepard and co. heard it too.

"Normandy to boarding party do you copy?"

"We're here Joker, Tom managed to hack through the firewalls, anything wrong on your end?"

"Negative Commander, EDI supressed the virus, instead of disabling the Normandy it disabled our comms, but we're good now."

I joined the fight as Joker gave a status report, just another day at the office I supposed.

"Shepard I have control of the platforms now, I'm getting them back to where you started." EDI said.

"Uh, Shepard the Collector ship is powering up, you gotta get out of there, I am NOT losing another Normandy!" Joker said, increasingly fearful.

"Alright everyone, you heard the man, move!" Shepard shouted and we hauled ass out of there. We really booked it, shooting Collectors on our way out, speeding past the corridors. We got to the open area with two doors.

"Shepard I'm opening a door on the right to provide a short cut to the shuttle." EDI's voice said over the comm.

We ran over there real fast, and to my surprise the door shut only after we got inside, sealing the collectors out. I guess those cyberwarfare upgrades were showing their worth here.

"Shepard the shuttle is to your left." I shouted. We ran past the area with those experimented Collectors, gotta be close now.

"There it is!"

"Everyone on, NOW!" Shepard said, further increasing everyone's desire to get the hell off that ship. We took off and got onto the Normandy just as the ship was powering up, this time Joker calmly flew out of there, and we managed to get out of there without anymore panic.

"That was close." I commented.

"I owe you Tom, we all do. Your hacking skills are better then anyone else I've seen, Tali included."

"Oh stop it, you've saved all of our asses way more, I was just doing my job."

"Next time drinks on me."

"I can't stomach that, remember? Just get me a soda or something."

"I get it. If you ever join the Alliance you've got my support."

"There's something I might need, thanks Shepard."

''No problem."

...

"Tom you saved our ass, that virus would've disabled our systems for a while, making us a sitting duck." Joker was impressed.

"The ego is rising." I commented.

"NO, your ego is already too high, stop it."

"Aww man, you just shot me down."

"Next time make it a little more subtle." Welp.

I guess my skills did save our ass, but I know what would've happened if I wasn't here, that's why I didn't paticularly care about all the praise, EDI would've compensated, and they would've been fine either way, but it is nice to note that I prevented it from being much more dangerous then when I was here. It was pure luck in the games because you barely had any time to escape, I guess my skills were needed. Also, why didn't EDI check out the Turian distress signal? Darn it, I couldn't place more hate on the Illusive man.

I checked my Omni-tool, seeing a barrage of messages from Tali. I better talk to her now. I walked into the elevator, took it down to engineering and met Tali doing something in the main core area.

"Tom, thanks for coming, sorry if I'm a bit... impatient."

"That was an understatement." I replied snarkily.

"Well you did just prevent an attack from the best hackers in the galaxy."

"The Reapers right? I know they probably designed all the systems the Collectors used."

"Glad to see some people aren't completely blind, the council rejected everything I ever had on Saren, I'm surprised Shepard even let them live." That was a surprise. I hadn't heard that Shepard had saved the council, but that little line of dialogue did the trick.

"So, you said in your messages that you wanted to know how I managed to get the Normandy's firewalls that strong? Or should I let you ramble?" I asked.

"Sorry, I tend to get off track sometimes, I would like to know, I haven't been matched in terms of tech in years."

"Right, I'll show you, sync your Omni to the Normandy, I'll show you how its done."

The little session I had was long. I had to walk Tali through it all, showing how it was done, making sure she did it right, I kind of expected this, since in the games Tali was a self taught, that was why she was so good at engineering and such, so I was expecting her to have trouble with someone else dictating what she had to do, it was funny, since she wanted to do what ever she thought was right.

 _Meanwhile_

"Shepard, the data you received indicates that you need a Reaper IFF to get through the Omega 4 Relay, this was invaluable." The Illusive man was being his usual self this time, still want to put a bullet in the fucker's head for that trap that he sent me to, but I won't tell him now.

"I know where to get one, the coordinates I've sent a lead to a dead, or at least minimally functioning Reaper, the science team I sent there should have extracted the IFF now."

"Is there anything else I should know?" I asked.

"We lost contact with the Cerberus team shortly after they entered the Reaper, so I don't know if that area is secure, but this is your mission Shepard, you can do this when ever you want."

"And it better bloody stay that way, Shepard out." I cut the QED and left the conversation, I'll kill him later, right now I have a job to do."

 _Meanwhile_

"Yes! I'm an indisputable genuis!" I tapped a single button on my Omni-tool and the faint sounds of electronics shorting out was heard.

"What did you just do? We didn't accomplish anything special." Tali asked.

"You see Tali, the Illusive asshat meticulously placed several bugs in all of the rooms of this ship, I just disabled every single one on this deck, about time." I said, smiling.

"How did you do that? I could only detect one of them."

"Trade secret, I think that I've given you enough tips today."

"Thanks for this Tom, Cerberus threa-"

"I know, for the last time! Although I can understand why you want to protect the fleet."

"I'm glad you understand, Quarians have had to rely on one another for 300 years, only Shepard and the old crew ever understood that."

"Right, I'll leave you with that, Tali." I made way for CIC.


	23. Chapter 23: Prevaricator

"For the last time, NO!" I huffed angrily.

"Why do you get so protective over your past? It isn't a big deal or anything." Joker was super nosy, and that train of thought was dangerous.

"Can you at the very least respect my privacy? I don't want to talk about it."

"Fine fine, but I'll find out eventually." Alright I have to shut him out, NOW.

"Can you stop being so nosy? I don't want to talk about it, and I never asked you about your past, despite being very well able to find out."

"Never mind, I'll respect your privacy from this point, but I will find out one day." Sure he would, I actually doubt I would ever tell them the full truth, or anyone else for that matter. I'm going to shut out his train of thought now, I hope. Joker asked the most questions out of anyone, and soon one of those is going to make me unable to answer.

I sighed, this was not going how I thought it would. We were on route to the c

Citadel now, I think we were going to pick up Kusumi, actually that's a lie, I was positive, I'm no more guilty than Miranda, I did snoop around Shepard's emails or whatever the future equivalent is. Sometimes I hate living a lie, it wore on you. It was always nagging at me, I always had a guilty conscious, but it seemed much bigger now than it usually was.

I had to stay strong, especially in front of Joker. It was something Shepard knew, from the beginning of his time as Captain of the original Normandy. I just didn't think it would weigh down on me like this, that's why I tried to let loose a little, just to show I was a normal person, poor Shepard couldn't do just that, I guess those are the downfalls of being the unkillable Commander Shepard, you had to act tough, all the time.

...

"Tali, Tom and Garrus grab your gear and get to the airlock on the CIC, this isn't shore leave until after the mission, so everyone else can sit tight for a little while." Shepard was in a strictly business mood today. Fortunately I was already on the bridge, this shouldn't take long. I still don't understand the chances of me not being hurt once on a mission, sure my armor had been shot several times, but there was no direct contact, which is nothing short of a miracle right now. I put on my helmet and headed to the airlock, seeing Shepard also striding over there. Shame we wouldn't be using the stuff, only Shepard would be on the heist.

"So Tom I think I found someone who rivals your ability to hack." Shepard said.

"Not by a long shot, I bet." I shrugged, Kasumi was good, but her main focus was in stealth, not hacking even though I had to admit she was good in her heist mission, I could probably bypass the voice recognition, the DNA scanner however, was much more sophisticated. Shepard and the rest of us walked out of the docking bay and go onto an air car, and right to where we were supposed to go.

I'm kind of surprised that no one questioned the ad that appeared, especially since she directly references Commander Shepard, but I guess she didn't want just anyone to enter a pass code, but it still looked pretty suspicious.

"So, what are we doing this time?" Tali asked.

"Well, we're going to recruit a master thief which no one has ever heard of."

"Commander Shepard, input a password and receive a prize."

"Silence is golden." I tuned out after that, I'd rather start doing things on my Omni-tool.

"Tom what are you doing?" Tali asked curiously.

"Tali I just want you to watch this happen, alright? It should teach you a few things."

"Sure!" Tali was still enthusiastic which is great, she was way softer in the first game, glad to see not all of it is gone, Liara lost all of it.

The security was good, but I had detected one horrible flaw that was just begging to be exploited, I was just doing this for fun, I already knew where Kasumi was, I just wanted to show that she wasn't as sneaky as she thought, I'm a horrible person sometimes, I liked showing people they didn't hold all the cards though. Tali watched, perplexed, I didn't blame her though, I was a whole level above her, or so I thought.

They were in the middle of a conversation, but as soon as it got to the part where Kasumi was behind us on a raised platform I acted. I tagged her Omni, and made sure to annouce to her that she wasn't the best hacker, although if I wasn't here she would be.

"You know, leaving an opening makes you easy to trace, but I guess you weren't expecting a cyber attack, but I would've gotten a stronger encryption after all." I mused out loud.

"How did you do that?! I've never been hacked before." Kasumi was shocked.

"Pay him no mind Kasumi, he tends to do that a lot." Shepard brushed me off as normal. The conversation went on normally, but I could tell I hurt her pride.

"How did you do that?" Tali asked.

"I'll tell you, when we're on leave." I think I'm too good at this now, just like I was in 2014.

I did feel bad for Kasumi though, she had a huge streak going on where she had never been challenged before and I just utterly shattered it, once again I'm a horrible person, I hate my human nature sometimes, it can really hinder a relationship, I never had one after the first one I had, so long ago. My life was always so grim before now, I could barely remember a time when I'd actually have had fun or smiled in my past life.

Kasumi joined us after that, and we got some leave which was great. I never got to see the Citadel much, but I knew that we would be soon, due to all the loyalty missions that were here. I walked into an elevator, hoping to check out the scenery on the presidium. I was never near this part in Mass Effect 2, since they never added it. Good thing this is real life, not some game. I was greeted with an absolutely amazing sight, the games just didn't do it any justice.

I didn't want to get lost here, so I went back down. There were plenty of shops that I might be interested in there. I hadn't bought anything for a while, and I still had around 100,000 credits.

 _Meanwhile_

Shepard walked, deep in thought. He was going to be doing a heist, which would definitely be against Alliance protocol, like many things were these days, he was hoping he could rejoin after this, heh. _Fat chance_ Shepard almost frowned. That's when he heard the excruciatingly annoying voice.

"Commander Shepard! Is it true that your working for the terrorist organization, Cerberus?" Oh no, not Al-Jilani again.

"No, they work for me, and I'm saving human colonies in the Terminus systems right now.''

"Is it true that you had a paid contract from the Illusive man to work for him? And that you faked your own death?"

"I've had enough of your tabloid journalism." I punched her right in the face, the same way I did before Saren attacked the citadel. She fell to the floor, where she belonged.

She got up. "You bastard! I'm make sure that this interview goes viral, just like before Saren attack!" She screamed at me.

"I wouldn't be so sure, Al-Jilani." Tom walked up, typing something on his Omni-tool.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

I walked up to where the Reporter was and tapped several buttons, siphoning all of their data and then causing them to self destruct. I also wiped her Omni-tool for good measure.

"You bastards! You know how much those cameras cost! This is public assault right here!"

"Oh really? There's no one around and all the cameras here are disabled, you have no evidence, and I'm a Spectre." Shepard joined me in a smirk. She walked off angrily, muttering obscenities under her breath.

"Tom, when this is over, and I'm relaxing and on vacation I want you to be my neighbor, so any nosy reporters that come will be dealt with." Shepard was borderline amused.

"She was a real bitch that one, I.." my Omni-tool beeped, a message from Tali, it seems.

"I gotta go talk to Tali, says she has something to show me, gotta go!" I said, leaving Shepard in the corridor.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Tali was excited, she was going to show Tom that she actually was a decent hacker, she had finally been able to work out how to hack into that one area that was so heavily secured before. She watched as Tom walked down the small alley.

"So you think you can finally crack my Omni-tool this time?"

She smiled, even if Tom couldn't see that behind her mask. "I will this time!" She said, determined.

"Alright this should be cute, give me your best shot." I started the attack.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

This would be fine, there is no way she would be able to crack my security now, I added two extra encryptions since last time, I watched the hack hit 5%. She almost seemed bubbling with excitement, and I didn't blame her, I was like the ultimate master at hacking, and she wanted to do something to prove that she knew a thing as well, but I doubted she would be able to get past two other encryptions, I watched the hack meter hit 14%.

"I bet it won't reach 75%."

"Yeah right! I'm much better now, I bet I'll get into that area." Tali was sure, I could hear it in her voice. The bar reached 23%.

It reached 30% then 40% then 50% then 60% now it was at 71% and I was worried I was going to have to corrupt the data, but then it stopped completely at 72%.

"Ha! I told you so!" I said, victorious.

"I was closer now too! How are you so good?! I thought that was good enough to crack three encryptions too." I glanced at her Omni-tool, seeing it at 72%. I smirked. But then all the colour drained from my face when it jumped to 100% and Tali got in. Oh fuck, she was looking at it now, no no no it can't happen now!

"Wait a second, what is this Tom?! This has complete information about every mission that I did with Shepard on the SR-1 and all of our conversations, where did you get this?!"

This was not good, I just fucked it up, I just screwed up canon, I doubt I would be able to fix things now, I guess I would have to go with the option, tell her the truth, something I dreaded dearly. I knew I should've just erased the data, I knew it.

"Tali, look, you're going to get what no one else got, some answers."

"Who are you is the first question, this data, it's like you stole it directly from the eyes of Shepard and like you were there, and you weren't, I'm sure of it."

Well fuck, this is going to take a long time.


	24. Chapter 24: Liar

"Tell me, tell me everything, how do you know about all of this? This is everything about us, jotted down in meticulous detail, even Cerberus or the Shadow Broker don't have this much information on this, tell me everything."

"I'm sorry, I wanted to tell everyone, but I couldn't, you would think I was hysterical or worse, I'd be thrown off the ship for good, never to return."

"What do you mean?"

"I've come from a different time, when none of this existed and we hadn't achieved faster-than-light travel, we were just beginning to get to the reaches of space, essentially I was somehow transported here, with complete knowledge of what happened and what was going to happen, and I typed it down, just so I would remember, and just to clarify that this is true, I will give you examples of things that aren't written down but I know." She had lost access after the Noveria mission page.

"You went to Freedom's Progress to find a Quarian that was likely insane, and you met Shepard there half way through, your squad thought he was Cerberus and you had to force them to stand down, then you agreed with him to work with them to get to Veetor, and then your squad rushed ahead to get to Veetor first, but they were destroyed by a heavy mech, then you found out with Shepard that the Collectors took the colonists, that sufficient enough for you?"

"How-w did you get here?" Tali was completely confused now.

"Also I would recommend you contact your father, because he is likely experimenting with live Geth right now to try and figure out a vulnerability in their system, and if this continues the Geth he's experimenting on will eventually seize the ship, killing everyone inside."

"Wait a second, if you hadn't told you this my father would die because I wouldn't know, nor would the rest of the Admiralty Board, with all this knowledge, you would've just let my father die, and that is no better then murder!" I haven't seen Tali this angry before, in the game or in reality.

"You think I hadn't considered that? This has all been an act on my part, I have no past here and I legitimately shouldn't exist here, do you see how much it's weighing down on me? There's so many deaths that I've already seen, and some I can't prevent. If I told you, you've thought I was crazy without hacking into all of this, sometimes the only person I see in the mirror is a murderer."

Her face was completely hidden from me, of course it was due to her mask. It was a long while before she spoke again, and it was in a barely controlled voice, I knew she was definitely angry, but she could see my logic.

"It makes sense, but why haven't you tried to tip Shepard off? There's a lot more I know you're hiding from me, I can see it. It's eating away at you, can't you tell me more now? I already know where you've come from, doesn't that change things significantly?"

"I'm sorry Tali, but I can't do that, I've already compromised my knowledge for several future events, there's still a lot I can't tell you, and I'm sorry for all of this, I really am, you'd best hurry along now, before your father dies."

She didn't say anything, simply leaving the alley way we were talking in, clearly taking what I said to heart, which was good, because it meant she wouldn't be telling anyone else. I hated this, lying like this. I really was no better than a murderer, no matter how much I justified it with the ruthless calculus of war, in the end it was still murder.

And even now I had still lied to her, I could never tell her that in reality she was a popular video game character, I don't think anyone would take well to that, I know I wouldn't. I was never a decent man, it was just like back then, I was a liar then, and I was a liar now.

The rest of the leave was a blur, I was worried Tali might talk, but she didn't, fortunately. I'm really lucky that went over as well as it did. If I had phrased it wrong I would've died, so it's a plus that I'm still alive. I stepped onto the Normandy, like everyone else. Good thing the airlock was faster now, because standing in the midst of a lot of trained killer aliens was maybe just slightly uncomfortable.

I took up my place on the bridge, Joker was busily obeying the docking protocol, so no questions this time. I checked the digital tracer I had planted in Kasumi's Omni-tool which was a real sneaky move, I didn't appreciate doing it either, I hated violation of people's privacy above anything else. I gingerly checked her location, only for it to show a dot right next to myself.

Kasumi was real sneaky, more so than in the games, the only time I remember her sneaking around in cloak like this was in the Citadel DLC.

"I know you're there Kasumi, don't try to be all sneaky like that." I loved crashing non-existent parties.

She decloaked. "Why are you so good? You're the only one who was able to know when I was cloaked, despite me being extra careful to tag right behind you." Kasumi complained.

"Hey, I'm also an infiltrator, so don't expect me to be fooled by that cloak you know." I lied.

"It's no fun when people can see through it." She stalked off, clearly annoyed.

"How did you find her Tom? I'm just curious, also I have to admit that was kinda creepy, thanks for the saving me from having someone looking over my shoulder, even if they're invisible I would probably still feel the pressure." Joker was full of questions, more so here then in the games.

I checked my trace again, fortunately she didn't double back. "I did it the old fashioned way, I tagged her Omni-tool, textbook perfect too, she doesn't even know I did it either."

"I kinda figured you were lying about the whole infiltrator thing, that just doesn't make sense with the kind of high power cloak that she has."

"Yeah, better then mine because it hides her thermal body heat and heartbeat, so it would be theoretically impossible for me to just see her there, guess she doesn't think things through that aren't important, I don't blame her though, she has a heist coming up that is very well planned, so I don't blame her for having her mind on other things."

...

Shepard came by the bridge looking real sharp in his outfit, I wish he worn it on more occasions, I could tell he was embarrassed as he walked into the elevator, down to the shuttle bay. Maybe I'd help Shepard this time as well. I was bored anyway, there was nothing better to do than just sit around.

But the first order of business was lunch, since I hadn't eaten in a little while and I couldn't hack while hungry, it's just something I really sucked at.

...

Ok, the food was actually really good, but it looked absolutely repulsive on the outside. It looked like the asari equivalent of sloppy Joe's, but with no bun and just a spoon, also with added spice apparently. At least I didn't have to eat food paste like Garrus, that must be repulsive, he was eating them now by just inhaling them.

"Don't you get sick of those things?" I asked.

"You get used to it after a while, but it tastes horrible even after, I just prefer to inhale it entirely. I haven't had a meal like yours for as long as I've served on the Normandy."

"I don't think I'd ever get used to that."

"To be honest, you never really do, I just... what was that human saying again? Right, I believe the term was 'grin and bear it' right?"

"I think you got the perfect example, I would talk more but I have to get back to the bridge, see you later."

...

Ok I might be a little spoiled when it comes to hacking from a location with the best equipment credits could buy, but at least I would break the security in about 5 minutes. Shepard and Kasumi have just landed now, from the bits and pieces of conversation I was able to pick up. Good thing Joker was taking a nap now, I hate getting a weird look.

I tuned into the conversation between Shepard and Kasumi as the bar reached 68%.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"How will the plan work now? He's too suspicious of you." I asked.

"I'll just go in with my cloak Shepard, I've done this before, no problem." She reassured me.

"Ok, let's hope he isn't too suspicious of me because of you."


	25. Chapter 25: Resourceful

"Here's the vault, pretty cleverly hidden if you ask me." I sized the room up, it had a heavy kinetic barrier and several computers near it, and a hand scanner.

"Isn't this a bit much?"

"He doesn't just have the greybox in there Shepard, he also happens to have dozens of priceless pieces of art, but we're not interested in that."

"How are we going to crack the security then? This thing has a lot of security, that reminds me, I wish Tom was h-

"Here? I already cracked the security and have access to most of the facility." Speak of the devil, how much time does he have on his hands?

"You have a habit of just butting in, I kind of expected that one." I said lamely.

"All that aside I can help you guys a bit." Tom still had his usual tone of confidence.

"Like what? I was never able to crack his security." I could hear the obvious tone of annoyance in Kasumi's voice.

"The DNA scanner is extremely complicated and would take hours to hack through, but but the audio sample is easy enough, I just need the password to get through, the rest is up to you."

"Alright Shepard, let's get a move on, we only have so much time." Kasumi said, both slightly impatient and annoyed.

"Right."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The password was an act, gotta keep my cover after all, plus that password was such an odd one that I didn't remember it myself, so that was that. I've never seen so many encryptions in my entire life on one DNA scanner, it was seriously locked up tight. I don't think I should use any more memory after this, I heard Joker complaining when he was going to take a nap when he saw the ship lagging a bit, darn it, I was taking up a bit too much processing power.

I monitored their progress, getting the password, but not talking to anyone, and then getting the DNA. I just finished the security as Kasumi and Shepard walked into the vault again.

"Tom, report!"

"I've cracked the voice scanner, simply say the password and it should allow you through."

"Thanks Tom."

"Alright Shepard, enter the DNA, after that we should be fine." Kasumi said.

"Also, I've disabled a camera inside the elevator and a fail safe designed to alert security when the elevator went down, regardless of who's in there. You won't have any issues in there, I hope. Good luck Shepard, I can't do much after this, and I'm been very tired lately, so be seeing you later." I cut my connection after that, I was tired, even if it never showed. I shut off my terminal and walked to the elevator.

...

I laid down on the moderately soft bed, not what I was used to, but it beats living in a sleeping pod. Sleep came easy for me, it always did, but I was never a light sleeper, and I would frequently wake up late for school, my auntie calling for me since my mom left for work early in the morning. I slept like a rock.

...

I woke up the same grey void I had before.

"Where the hell? I've never had these lucid dreams before." I said to no one in particular.

There was nothing in any direction I could discern, I didn't see anything for miles, or however long this place was in my mind. I looked around again, nothing, this was getting boring. At least a dream is like 100x faster then real life, I should wake up soon, I hope. Then I saw something and I silently cheered, anything was better then sitting in the darkness.

It was a human figure, but I couldn't make out anything else then that. I ran forward.

"Wait, who are you, who..."

Then I woke up. What the hell was that? I knew it was someone human, due to the form I saw in the distance, but I couldn't discern anything 's possible I was going through indoctrination, but I doubt that, even now. I haven't seen a full scale Reaper yet, so I don't think I was, I hope Harbinger couldn't indoctrinate people through his Collector form. I sighed, got up and went for some food, there wasn't any breakfast or dinner, just meals whenever you were hungry enough, is was odd at first, but now I had grown used to it.

After that I walked to the elevator and sent for the bridge, curious to see if Shepard finished the mission yet. I think he did. I didn't dwell on that as I strode towards the bridge. Joker was there, I presume for a little while as he did go to bed before I did.

"You take a rest too?"

"No shit Sherlock."

"Alright alright, I just recently picked up Kasumi and Shepard, in case you're wondering."

"Oh, thanks for that. I was wondering when they were done with all that fun stuff, back to work now."

"For me, not for you. Never mind, I don't know what you do with your spare time, and I don't want to know, none of my business and all."

"You're finally catching on." I observed.

I guess Joker finally stopped asking questions, which is very welcome. I hated dodging his tricky questions, and it made it all the more harder to lie, even though I frequently lied through my teeth. That doesn't help much though, because no matter how frequently you lie, it never gets easier, especially as the lie gets bigger and bigger each time.

Frankly, I'm surprised I've even managed to last this long without someone getting suspicious, besides Tali. That was a lucky break, and she would've told someone by now, but I guess I can be pretty convincing when I want to be, but that only works for so long. I sighed, my mind wasn't on toying around with the Normandy's firewalls, but I do have a lot to think about. Then of course Shepard decides to stroll onto the bridge like he owns the place, uh scratch that, he does own the place.

"Oh hey Shepard." I said in the most calm voice I could muster.

"Hey Tom, we're going to go pick up an Asari Justicar soon and I need your expertise."

"I will always make myself useful, one way, or another."

"Right, Joker set a course for Illium, we're going to recruit an her."

"Aren't those asari a cross between a religious cop and a vigilante?" I asked.

"From what I've heard, you just hit the nail on the head with that description."

"You're really set on recruiting people aren't you? I bet you'll have recruited a Geth on our team by the next month, give or take." This was a bet I couldn't lose, naturally.

"I'll bet 1,500 credits on that." Shepard said, confident.

"Your money is as good as lost Tom. I think I'll bet 1,500 as well." Joker said softly.

"We'll see." I said calmly.

"I'm going to grab a quick coffee before we go, just to make sure I'm alert." I said, getting out of the chair. Shepard joined me as well, saying he needed to talk to Miranda.

The elevator ride down was uneventful, mainly just Shepard poking fun at how my money was pretty much gone and that I should hand it over now. We both got off to the crew deck, Shepard going to visit Miranda, for I think the loyalty mission prompt. I grabbed a quick coffee and nonchalantly leaned against the wall near the table, Jacob was sitting down, same with Tali.

"Hey Tom, you relaxing?" Jacob asked.

"Yeah" I responded "just made a bet with Shepard a little while ago."

"Your money is as good as lost." Garrus said, walking from the gun battery.

"That's what both Joker and Shepard said."

"I'd like to know what the bet was." Tali piped up.

"Well, since Shepard is so good at convincing people to join us, I bet that he's going to recruit a Geth by this month." I was practically begging for them to bet against me, but that was the plan.

"I'm adding 2,000 credits to that." Jacob and Garrus said instantly.

"Alright, but I'm going to relish sticking it into your face when we do recruit one, I bet." I winked at Tali when both Garrus and Jacob didn't have me in their line of sight, I hope she understood that gesture.

"I'm not betting anything, just because I don't want to risk my money." Tali said, catching on quickly.

"Suit yourself." Jacob said.

Later, I left the crew deck, mainly because I was needed, since we were being called to Illium, Jacob and Tali were also with me. I'm glad the elevator wasn't as slow as in the SR-1 because it was getting uncomfortable in the elevator before the door opened. We all arrived at the airlock just as we docked, Shepard was there.

"So Tom, I've heard you took up that bet with two other people, sure you don't want to back out now?" Real cheeky, Shepard.

"Of course not, I will get that money, I hope." My acting and lying skills have improved a lot by this point. Also, I hope a lot of things go in my favor, I seriously gotta stop doing that.

"Hah! You're unsure of yourself even now, you money is gone." Jacob was real confident, I didn't blame him at this point though, I would've bet against myself if I didn't know the future. I'm probably a huge asshole by doing this, this is like the most dishonorable way to use future knowledge, heh, sucks to be them. I'm going to laugh in their face when Legion steps on board.

We talked to Liara, and then the very paranoid cop, I don't blame her though.

"So Tom, what do you know about this Asari Justicar?" Tali asked.

I made it obvious that I knew a lot more, but I told her what I should've known.

"Well, an Asari Justicar, from what I've heard, is a cross between a religious police officer and a vigilante." The air car stopped at that moment, and we all piled out. We saw the Asari detective give that Volus a lecture, before walking back into her office. She was going to be in a very lose-lose situation soon.

"Let's talk to the detective, she might know what's going on." Shepard said calmly, this was a day to day thing for him of course.

I pity'd the detective in the game, she was in the worst possible situation of her life, she could either die, or get fired. Either way her life would be ruined at that moment. Good thing the Justicar code gave a small amount of grace, so that's a major plus.

"Hello, Nice guns, try not use them in my district, my name is Detective Anaya, what can I do for you?" She was as blunt as possible.

"We're looking for an Asari Justicar, her name is Samara, do you know where we can find her?"


	26. Chapter 26: Miscalculated

"I knew she was trouble, she registered here recently, after that we had reports that there was a huge firefight with the Eclipse. My Superiors have recently ordered me to detain her, but her code indicates that if I take her into custody, she'll be forced to kill me. I'll be glad if you can take her away from here, because I'm currently in a lose-lose situation."

"I plan on doing that, can you point us in the right direction?" Shepard asked.

"Just pass the police line, I'll send word to let you in, but be careful, the Eclipse have been shooting at anything that moves, not that you wouldn't be prepared for it."

"Thanks, we'll be going now." We left Anaya's office.

"She seemed a little annoyed." I observed.

"She was in a bad situation, I don't blame her, let's get going." Shepard said.

We passed the police tape without an incident, but then we had to fight the eclipse in the alleyway, which was no sweat. I cloaked while Shepard provided covering fire, Tali forced the mercs out of cover with her Combat drone, and then Jacob would annihilate them with his biotics. I sniped two mercs while in cloak, mainly the ones that would've been trouble otherwise. The fight lasted around a minute.

Shepard silently motioned to move forward, and we all ascended the steps, where a handful of mechs and Eclipse were, the resulting firefight was completely one sided, and they were eradicated from existance. As soon as we approached the door Shepard stopped us. There a lot of sounds in there, mainly gunfire and biotics.

"Alright people, breach and clear!" Shepard shouted before hitting the door, I got front row seats to seeing that one Lietenant getting thrown out the window.

"You'd never compare to the things she'd do to me, you're nothing!" The merc spat.

I didn't watch as Samara broke her neck, that was a bit much for me, since it was real life not a game, so it was a little more gory then I expected.

"Who are you? These mercs were not a challenge, but I see four well armed people before me."

"I'm Commander Shepard, and I need you on a suicide mission."

"I would be able to help, but I can only leave once the code has been satisfied."

"Well unfortunately I'm going to have to take you into custody then, my superiors have ordered me to." It still puzzles me to this day how Anaya manages to get here without anyone noticing.

"I can help you with that, what does your code need?" Shepard said.

"I need to find the name of the ship a dangerous fugitive left on, if you can find the name of that ship the code will be satisfied."

"You can discuss this in my office, get a move on people!" Anaya said impatiently.

...

I'm glad the walk back was uneventful, my sniper rifle was jammed, so I had to spend my time fixing my rifle instead of paying attention to the conversation. I hated it when guns jammed or broke, it was annoying, and it could be deadly in a firefight, which is why I paid a lot more attention to my sniper then anything else for a little while, good thing I managed to re-align the thermal clip in there just as we got out of the office.

"So, we need to get into that elevator right?" Tali conveniently asked, wait how did she know that? I missed a crucial tibbit of information in the dialogue, dang my gun jamming at the wrong time.

"Yes." Shepard said. "Can you guys hack it?"

"Oh please, I do this for fun." I said confidently, I pressed a button, waited for the door to deny access, then I made my move. This was one of the newer things I had learned and I enjoyed it too, before long we had access to the door, no problem.

"I could've done that." Tali said.

"I know, passwords are easy to hack now, so that wasn't an issue." We entered the elevator and it started accelerating right to the top floor. I'm glad this elevator is nowhere near as cramped as the Normandy's, I had a nice amount of space, the comfortable amount. The elevator ride felt like it took forever, but I didn't care, I liked the feeling when you were accelerating at a fast pace.

...

We exited the elevator, and after turning a corner instantly saw a couple Eclipse. There were only two of them, patrols I guess. The battle was down in an instant, because Shepard instantly drew his shotgun and shot them both, like the gung ho badass that he was. I've always wondered who would win in a battle, Commander Shepard or Master Chief? I can dream.

We walked along, killed a lot of mercs, and a lot of mechs. Then we got to the area where all those red sand containers are. Oh man, I'm telling Shepard that this stuff is poison, because no one deserves to die from chemical warfare, that's just brutal.

"Uh, guys? We might want to be a little careful in the next few firefights we have." All the attention was on me now. "I've seen this from several shipments when I was doing my vigilante work, what it does is boost your biotic power, but if you stay in it too long you'll die a painful death from too much tissue death, and believe me, it's not pretty, I've seen it happen before." That was only a half lie, I'd accidently gotten a game over screen for staying in the stuff for too long.

Shepard was about to say something, but he was interrupted by a couple asari mercs who had just walked into the area and started shooting at us. I shot one of them, because I was expecting them, and Tali shot another asari who wanted to get too close. Jacob blew up a red sand container near two eclipse mercs, who unfortunately for them, didn't know that it would kill them after too long, eventually they died from total organ failure.

"That's pretty brutal." Sure is Jacob, Captain Obvious.

"Keep moving!" Shepard said.

We were pretty close to the Eclipse leader now, it wouldn't be too too far. That's when Shepard opened the side door to where Elnora was. I could see Shepard knew immediately that someone besides us were in the room. All of us knew too, we were just pretending, good thing she couldn't see our bad acting, only our footsteps were heard.

I guess Shepard had enough of it. "We know your here, get out of cover!"

"W-wait! I only pretended to kill someone while the Eclipse recruiter was watching but I didn't really do it! Please, I'm innocent I swear!"

Shepard looked at me. "Tom, anything you can find on her?" This was going to be pretty cold, but sadly, I didn't take requests from murderers. I looked up a Shepard from my Omni-tool.

"She's suspected of murder. A Volus. Shepard, she's a liar." I said coldly.

"Screw that bastard, and screw you!" She fired one bullet which pinged off of Shepard's shields.

"My turn." Shepard shot her right in the face with a shotgun. We all left that room with the pleasure of having killed a murderer, or at least just me. That's why I got into the whole vigilante business anyway. We slowly made it to the door where the Eclipse Leader was, but I guess there was no experiments because that Volus wasn't there this time, not that I wanted to see him of course.

"Who are you?! Doesn't matter, I'll destroy you!" The Eclipse Leader screamed in rage. Before throwing one of those red drug containers.

"Spread out everyone! Otherwise she might maul us with a shockwave!" Shepard shouted, and everyone was in a hurry to follow his orders. I just took the cheat way, and activated my tactical cloak. And while everyone else was fighting for their lives I snuck right up to the Eclipse Leader. She was about to Maul Tali with biotic attack, whose shields were down, and it looks like I wouldn't make it in time, but then an idea popped into my head.

"DIE SUIT RAT!" She shouted before throwing a warp right at Tali, which went right for me and made me tank a hit that was meant for Tali, it jammed my cloak and disabled it and did significant damage to my shield, then she followed up with a throw, detonating a biotic explosion which tossed me like a rag doll to the far side of the room.

"Nice try, but I won." She said with confidence. She was cut down right after saying that though, since Shepard had just ordered everyone to focus fire on her.

"Tom, you okay?" Jacob was standing over me. My vision was blurred and I was having trouble staying awake. I passed out shortly after he asked if I was okay.

Clearly, I was definitely not okay.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Why did Tom have to be a hero? It almost got him killed. Lugging him to the elevator back was difficult, but not impossible. I was glad Samara sweared the oath when we came back. I'd had enough labour for one day. She helped with her biotics and we managed to get him to the Normandy's medbay quickly after that.

"Is he going to be alright?" I asked Chakwas.

"The prognosis indicates that he may have damaged his ribs, but no major surgery will be done, I'll make sure the bruises heal properly and that he gets a good rest, you should go get some sleep, I can see this day was stressful, and you need to come up for air every once in a while, don't forget to take a moment for yourself occasionally."

"You're right, I think I'll get some sleep, thanks Doc."

"Just doing my duty, Shepard, just doing my duty. I'll inform you when he wakes up."


	27. Chapter 27:Reminisce

_Before the events of Chapter 1 of this story, September 3, 2003._

"I'm not asking you to leave Tom, this isn't a yes or no question, you're leaving!" She yelled.

"It isn't that hard to evade them, I can stay!" I protested.

"No, all of my sources have gone dark, and I can't risk you! You're the only person I have left in this world, our family has to go on, you have to survive this!"

"I was pulled into this just because I'm related right? Why can't I just stay with you and change my identity?"

"No, you have to leave, I won't lose you, even if it means I have to join your father."

"You know you can't be a hero, you're sacrificing your life just so I can life?!"

"I'm sorry, but you're a grown man now, now you're just a loose end they want tied up, and you have to continue the legacy, nothing can stop you, you're leaving, I'm sorry, but I have to do this."

"You know I can't continue this conversation, if you send me off I won't be seeing you again."

"I'm sorry, but this is the only way, you have to survive, my son. If you die our family dies with you, you have to live, that's all I'm asking, even if I have to send off my only son, forever."

...

Why did I have to leave? Mom was super vague on why, other then "those men." I was only pulled into this because of my father, sometimes I wish he was a normal guy, not some mob boss. I never understood what he did other then that, I was too young at the time to know who he was, that was all I remember of my father, just some guy that happened to be a mob boss, soon he was just a loose end, same with the rest of his family. At least that's what I knew.

I was just in this because of my last name, I don't know why it mattered so much, so much that it drove those people to murder my uncle, then my father, then my aunt. Now they were going to kill my mother, just for the sake of making sure none of us made it out alive, but my mom knew, I suppose this was all for the best. I drove into the parking lot and parked my car. That was the last time I drove the thing.

I walked towards the alley next to the entrance to the airport, good thing it was common for some of the staff to grab a smoke out here, so I got no weird looks from anyone. I saw the man, the guy that was going to send me off to a new life in Canada for whatever reason.

"You, over here." The man I presume was Xander said.

"You're Xander?"

"Yes, you have all of your certificates and such?"

"Yes, I do, take them all, fat lot of good a piece of paper will do for my life." I handed him the master's degree in Computer Science, my Driver's license and then my whole wallet and car keys. Then he handed me another Wallet, some car keys, a Passport, and 500$ Canadian dollars.

"I'll transfer the rest of the money to you when you arrive in Canada, it's safer that way. This should last you about 4 days, I should be able to transfer the money in 2 days, so you should be fine."

"Why was I pulled into this? I know I'm part of the family bloodline, but why would I need to leave?"

"We have time, I'll explain the half of it. Your father was one of the most notorious mob bosses that ever lived, he had blackmail on the police Chief, and some of the FBI directors, in fact I think he may have even had dirt on one of the higher ups in the CIA but that isn't important now. He had it all, anything in the city he wanted was his, and he was pretty much untouchable."

"What happened then? If this is true then why aren't I living a life of luxury?"

"You see, he owned it all, I honestly don't really know what happened, one day he was organizing a raid on the bank, next day he had a wife and kids to protect, but that wasn't even half the reason why. None of us know what happened, all he said was that he was going to see Gustav, his contact in the FBI, then the next thing we all know he's leaving the city, I think the FBI were after him, and it seems all of his blackmail was useless after all."

"What do you mean? How is that possible?"

"We know next to nothing, there was something different about him, he didn't feel like the man who was always in control after that meeting, he sort of jus, lost it. He seemed more paranoid, said he was going to get out of the city, and that his second hand man could take over, that man happens to me, of course. I run things now, I'm on your side for what it's worth, also that reminds me, take this."

Xander handed me a small ring, it almost seemed to be glowing with an unearthly light.

"What's this?"

"I don't know, he gave it to me before he left, said it was to get it off his back, for some odd reason, he told me to give it to his next of kin in case he died, and I never had a chance before now, take it. I don't know what it did, but you deserve it."

"Wait, why didn't I just stay with you? Anything could've been safer then where I used to be."

"I couldn't, you see he was like a virus, infecting anyone he saw after he left, any contacts he had vanished after a while, I'm surprised I or any of my crew haven't either, they knew to stay away from us, but they didn't hesitate to kill your family after they cut ties, nothing we could do to help, since he had left our protection, I wonder what would've happened if he hadn't." A taxi rolled up to the street, I was surprised that Xander could just pull favors like that and get a car almost immediately. Why couldn't they just protect my family now then? I guess we had become a risk he had been unwilling to take.

"I have to go, good luck Tom, you're going to need it." The taxi sped off quickly, leaving me there in the alleyway.

After that, I rode on the plane to Canada, leaving my entire life behind, I never saw anyone I ever knew again, I cut all ties and just left. They never found me, but they got very close, but my hacking skills kept them from ever discovering where I was, they never killed the last man in the Fisher Family, but I was as good as dead in that world now, none of it mattered now that I had disappeared from there.

Present date, 2185

"Joker, why did the storm just stop?"

"We just passed into the Reaper's mass effect field Shepard, we shouldn't have any issues with the atmosphere anymore, it's like the eye of the storm."

"Good, Tom, grab your gear and be ready, we're getting that IFF, try to not be a hero this time."

"No need to remind me, and that wasn't me trying to take a bullet for someone else, I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time."

"Yeah yeah, I need you in the event that we need to hack a door or something similar."

...

"This is a somewhat time sensitive mission, I don't know if this Reaper can still indoctrinate people, but I'm not taking that risk. We get the IFF and get out, understood?" I nodded, as did Jack and Grunt.

"Alright, let's get going." The airlock opened and we walked in, watching as pressure equalized, I started the recording.

"What's this?" Shepard asked, and we watched the small log with the Cerberus guy, talking about the pressure and such.

"Seems like this ship was doing stuff to them." Jack observed.

I kinda agreed with the scientist, even if I'd only been here a few minutes I could feel a very very slight pressure and claustrophobia, despite no evidence being presented for why.

"Move up, I hope this indoctrination doesn't take effect in the time we're here."

"Ha, this is nothing Shepard, we'll be fine!" Grunt assured him, but I didn't have that confidence.

We walked out and got a full view of the inside of a Reaper, once again it looked creepier in real life.

"This is creepy." I said, hiding the tone in my voice of evident fear.

"This is why I fight." Shepard said. "It's so these monsters aren't released on innocent civilians." Shepard said valiantly.

"Shepard, I got another terminal over here." I said, before activating it, the poor scientists were remembering having the same wife.

Shepard spoke after the log ended. "I feel sorry for them, the fact that a machine is sifting through their memories is sickening to me."

"They got fucked up by this thing." Jack said.

"Move up, we got more important issues to dwell on."

I went behind everyone, just so when the husks came I could shoot them with my mattock. And then they did.

"Jack, use shock wave!" Shepad shouted in between bursts of shotgun fire. Grunt just laughed and charged right into the horde, this was enjoyment for him, I couldn't say the same though, I wonder how he does that, because I was creeped out, like I previously mentioned.

I've never realized how much of a spammer Jack was, she was throwing out shock waves much faster then you could in the game, she's going to be hungry after we get back on the Normandy. The zombifed humans were killed after a pretty big firefight, I'm glad it ended quick, I wasn't suited to the close quarters.

"That was pretty brutal." I said quietly.

"Check this out Shepard! More of those computer things!" Grunt shouted before activating a computer. Shepard watched it as the head scientist pointed out some odd things.

"I don't like this guys, keep moving, I want to end this quickly."

Then my comms burst to life, same with everyone else's.

"Shepard the Reaper just put up a barrier, we can't get out, nor can you."

"Joker, is there anything we can do to get out?"

"Yes Shepard, if you destroy the core the shields will go down, but so will the mass effect field, in short: get the IFF then destroy the core then book it to the Normandy."

"Copy that Joker, standby."


	28. Chapter 28: Eschewal

I'm glad Shepard brought Jack and Grunt along, they were the perfect match for this mission, not so much for me though. I was better at laying back and shooting people from long range, and it was real annoying when they got up in my face, I hated close quarters. If I didn't have my Omni-blade I would've been dead by now. At that point three perfectly place sniper bullets were placed in the skulls of three husks down the hallway.

"Sniper?" I asked quietly.

"Must be one of the Cerberus Team that managed to survive, keep moving." We proceeded to go down the same hallway the three husks were executed at, and once again I got swarmed by the stupid things.

"Get these things off me! I shouted. I don't like how my shields didn't help either because the punches weren't going at mach speed.

"I got your ass!" Jack shouted before unleashing a shock wave, giving me some much needed space. I pistol whipped the last husk while Shepard and Grunt shot at all the other husks. Good thing my shields held, so Jack's shock wave didn't hurt me at all. I wish I didn't get picked for this mission, but I can't disobey direct orders from Shepard, not now, not ever.

I'm glad Shepard brought his shotgun all the time, gotta be prepared, we disposed of the rest of the husks easily.

"On me." Shepard said as we entered another set of doors, then it equalized pressure for some reason, I don't know why. We exited the door to a long catwalk, where we could see the outside world.

"Alright, Jack yo-" Shepard was interrupted as three expertly placed sniper rounds annihilated the husks behind us.

Legion stood up "Shepard-Commander" and then walked away, like that badass that he was.

"What the hell was that? A Geth? I thought you killed all of them that came out of the veil, and it talks!" Jack was describing Legion like a new toy, something to be toyed with.

"That thing just saved all our asses, so I'm willing to not question it, we'll deal with it later when we find out its motivation, but right now we continue straight ahead, is that clear?"

"I'm ready." I said.

"I've got your ass, Shepard." Jack said before reloading her shotgun.

Husks started coming in "tear them up! Weapons free!" Shepard shouted before blasting two of them with his shotgun. Grunt went in and just bashed a couple of them, he looked like he was having a good time. There wasn't much pressure on me due to all of the husks being distracted by Jack and Grunt, which made my suppressing fire very helpful since I didn't have to worry about watching my own flank.

"Keep shooting them! Jack I need you to use shock wave!" Shepard shouted, we were getting overrun by the last bit of husks.

Jack followed his orders and saved all our asses with one fell attack, her shock wave was super useful in this situation, although to be honest though I feel like she spams it way more then then in the game. I guess she has the biotics but not the brains, because all she does is spam her shock wave, I wonder how she thought up all those tests in the third game when she was teaching other biotics.

We had the area clear after seventeen shock waves and enough bullets to kill a terminator.

"They really don't let up do they? Now I know how you felt on Horizon Shepard."

"I'm just glad they aren't like zombies and only the dragon's teeth and Reaper tech can turn you into one, because it would be far too hard to contain if they could infect other people." Shepard said.

"Hey Shepard, check out the new 'reaper fucks with your mind and shit' interview!" Jack called eagerly. Everyone gather round as Jack started the vid. I really feel sorry for these scientists, they had no idea what was happening to them, I kinda wish you could save some of them, oh well. At least they finished the one job the came here to do, get that IFF.

"Uh, Shepard we got one of those Scion things and a platoon of husks incoming!" I warned.

"Grunt, Jack keep them off us, me and Tom will snipe that Scion, now!" Shepard said, snapping out orders like a true Commander would. Sometimes I wish he actually got what he deserved in the end of the game and got to retire to a nice beach house and live off the royalties of the vids, I plan to actually change the ending so it isn't horribly cheesy, at least the extended cut fixed that part. Me and Shepard got easy headshots off on that Scion, and I spammed incinerate attacks when it got close to Jack and Grunt.

After we killed that bloody Scion we took potshots at the rest of the husks, or what was left of them, we got a total of two shots in before they all disappeared, Shepard's strategy worked big time.

We all walked together down to the area where there where there were two paths to get to the other side, and of course two scions greeted us and a handful of husks.

"Same strategy everyone!" I guess since these guys are mindless zombies, so we can just keep using the same strategy since they won't adapt, sweet!

Grunt and Jack made short work of the husks, then proceeded to punish the Scion that me and Shepard weren't targeting, good thing Grunt was using fortification since those melee attacks from the Scion were pretty brutal. We didn't have too much trouble with the horde, it was better for all of us to have a couple big targets instead of a lot of small ones.

I sniped the head off the one Scion and then Shepard quickly changed targets and sniped the head off the other already weakened Scion.

"They really don 't let up do they?" I said before wiping a bead of sweat from my brow.

"Yes, keep moving!"

We all rushed down to the next area where there is supposed to be a lot of Scions and husks, but nothing was there, well sucks to be them, we're getting through now.

We opened the door, and I saw the IFF lying down on the computer terminal.

"Shepard we got the IFF." I said, and I held it up for him to see.

"But where's the Cerberus Team?" He asked.

"I think we fought what's left of them, what's behind this door?"

Shepard opened it, and we saw Legion shoot two husks before going to a Terminal, I think it was to hack something.

"Jack, can you use your biotics to get us through this? I don't like waiting."

Jack backed up a little bit, then rushed forward with her biotics and completely destroyed the barrier.

"Move in everyone, don't hit the Geth, because it just saved all our asses before!"

We cleared the room of the three husks that were inside.

"Shepard-Commander, we are prepared to offer assistance."

"Save it for later, we need to get off this rock."

Husks started swarming us, and I had to do a little wet work if you know what I mean, Legion was just shooting nonstop with his pistol, Shepard had his shotgun out, and Grunt was neck deep in husks, laughing like a kid at a candy store, Jack was spamming again, dang it Jake, I wish you had some strategy for once, that isn't always going to work.

"Shepard-Commander, the core is vulnerable now."

"I don't like waiting, so I'll just finish it now." Shepard said and then brought out the Cain.

"Everyone get back!" He shouted before firing the Cain directly into the core of the Reaper, destroying it instantly.

"Alright people, move move, we gotta get off this hunk of junk before it falls into the red dwarf, now!" He didn't need to tell us twice as we all booked it out of their, running for our lives and from all the husks that were climbing up from the flooring, like it was some horror movie or something.

"Shepard to Normandy, we need an extraction, NOW!"

"Copy that Shepard, get to the platform on your right, we'll be there."

We ran like it was the last day of our lives, and then the Normandy popped into view and I almost stopped to sign in relief, but I'd do that later, now was the time to run, and to run like hell.

Shepard jumped first, and got on easily, I boosted Jack, and she got on fine, Grunt took a huge leap, no problem. Legion jumped then, and he made it too, I took my leap of faith, and just didn't make it, but Shepard and Legion pulled me up, just at the last second.

"We're clear, get us the hell outta here!" Shepard said, and we left the dying Reaper. We walked onto the bridge once they airlock re-pressurized.

"Tom you got the IFF?" Shepard asked.

"Yeah." I took it out of my pocket "I'll make sure it's safely integrated into our systems, this is Reaper tech so there might be some complications."

"Ok, you do that, now we have a more pressing concern to deal with." He turned to Legion. "How can I trust you? I killed hundreds of geth when I was fighting Sovereign, and they never hesitated once."

"Those were the heratics, they worshiped the Old Machines, they are no longer part of the Consensus." Legion said, his headplates raised in what I would assumed would be a sheepish gesture.

"We'll settle this in the meeting room, Tom get that IFF integrated properly."

"You got it."

I left Legion there and walked into the bridge, placed the IFF near my terminal and then walked to the armory to take off my sweaty armor.

...

"That thing looks odd." Joker said as he stared at the IFF.

"When was Reaper tech ever not weird? I'm hoping it doesn't have a virus or something because it'll be hard to counteract, especially since this machine race has been in existence for thousands of years and I have little knowledge of what they're capable of, EDI I'm going to need your assistance in this matter."

"I will help you integrate this IFF into our system Tom, however we must be aware of any possible viruses it may have."

"My thoughts exactly, let's get to work, shall we?"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"By why though? I thought the Geth kept to themselves."

"We... wanted to know more you, Shepard-Commander."

"You were curious?"

"Yes, we were..."

"Another thing, why do you have a piece of my armor on your shoulder plate?"

"There was a hole." Legion raised his face plates again.

"Couldn't you've done it with something different, and sooner then when you got my armor from the pieces of the Normandy?"

"No data available."

"I'll save that for now, I see you're exceptionally skilled, for a Geth, do you want to help us? I'll take all the help I can get."

"Yes, Shepard-Commander, we oppose the heratics, we oppose the Old machines, a mutually beneficial alliance would be the best option."


	29. Chapter 29: Benumbed

"What is it Tom?" Garrus asked as I walked into the forward battery.

"Turn around." I said casually. "It's super impersonal when you don't make eye contact with the person you're speaking with, and if my memory serves me right, isn't that a Turian insult?" He turned around immediately, probably with some sappy comeback but he almost froze when he saw Legion standing behind my shoulder.

"Alright, you can stop now." He said, clearly flustered.

"You made a bet, pay up!"

He growled. "I am NEVER making a bet with you again after this."

"Serves you right, you can talk to Shepard about how we recruited a Geth, Jacob had a similar reaction, although I could read his facial expressions more clearly."

"Are you sure it's going to help us and not shoot us in the back when we aren't looking?" Garrus asked, concerned.

"Geth do not infiltrate." Legion said, he seemed confused on why everyone thought about that, pity he never saw the heretics fight the organics, maybe then he would be more sure.

"And it talks?! All the Geth I fought with Shepard just made a small buzzing sound."

"You wouldn't comprehend it, Geth communicate at light speed, this unit was designed for organic interaction."

"Thus the headplates, they stimulate facial expressions." I said calmly, I was enjoying seeing half the crew shocked that we had a Geth on our team, shame I could barely read Garrus' facial expressions.

"Alright, you'll get those credits, I need time to dwell on this." Garrus said, still in slight shock.

"Thank you, I'm going to see Tali now" I said, and left Garrus there.

"So Legion, you have any questions before I guide you to your place in this ship?"

"Negative, please continue."

"Thanks for those schematics by the way, I'm horrible at improvising, I prefer to follow the instructions, thanks for that."

"We thought it would be the appropriate time to test them."

"Thank you again for that, I'll be going now." It was a little odd that I didn't get a response back, but he was a machine after all.

It was really late right now, most of the crew had gone to sleep at the time, I was thirsty, so I got a drink from the very futuristic fridge which seemed surprisingly unchanged from a normal one, despite it's futuristic appearance.

I turned around to sit down, only seeing Tali standing there, staring at me.

"You're a real bosh'tet you know that?" She said.

"You should know that by now, it's who I am. And cut me some slack okay? Sometimes its fun to exploit future knowledge to someone else's expense, especially when they didn't even know it, and never will."

"But why hide all this?" Her voice was a whisper at this point.

"The more I tell, the more unreliable my knowledge becomes Tali, and the future I saw was a very one sided victory, we either kill all synthetics, the geth and EDI, Shepard controls the Reapers, or we merge all synthetic life, even though the Reapers stay as a problem. Tali, I need to use my knowledge when it's needed, I don't expect you to understand, Quarians have a very team-oriented mindset, this is for the greater good, and maybe, when this is all over, I might tell you and everyone else the full story. I'm going to bed now Tali, think about what I said here today, it might allow you to make sense of things." I left her without another word, heading to the Crew's Quarters to take a nap. I was glad through the whole ordeal EDI had not been watching. I'd been sure of that.

...

"Have fun Shepard!" I shouted as he left the bridge, planning to do Samara's loyalty mission. I sat back in my chair, and sighed. This Reaper IFF was being difficult, I hadn't even started integrating it into our systems yet, I was just trying to disable its fail safe. I only shivered at what could happen if this was allowed to go unchecked. I didn't want the crew to get abducted like last time.

I realized that it was even worse then what it appears to be, as it keeps transmitting, even after EDI disabled it, it just did that like it was a normal thing, I wonder if the Alliance removed it in the third game.

"Tom, are you still trying to configure that thing?" Joker asked.

"Yeah, it is Reaper tech after all, I must say, it's very sophisticated, the types of encryption this thing has are beyond anything I've ever seen, but me and EDI combined will hopefully be able to break it's security."

"I don't trust that thing, what if it starts transmitting or something?" I decided to tell him this, it was important enough.

"I've already found out everything about it, it actually is transmitting, but it's only a passive signal, not its emergency fail safe which is dangerous, very dangerous."

"How dangerous are we talking here?"

"If the ship it's integrated in isn't of Reaper or Collector origin, it transmits a signal to the nearest ship of the same origins of a Collector or Reaper ship, it also locks FTL and disables the thrusters."

"Then why the hell are we even integrating this death trap into my baby anyway?"

"Because we have to get through the Omega Four Relay, and you know what happens to all the ships that aren't Collector when they went through."

"Can you at least disable it?"

"I'm doing that right now, I'll be through soon, although I don't know how long it's going to take, especially with the odd kinds of encryptions it has integrated into its own system. Hopefully we can crack it by the end of tomorrow, but don't count on it."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"This is your apartment?" I asked. I looked around, it looked pretty good, something nice since only one person slept here, it reminded me of my own Quarters on the top floor of the Normandy.

"Yes, care to sit down next to me?" Morinth said, I really didn't care about this Asari, she was kinda creepy and I didn't see why our people fell for her, Liara was much more caring then this monster.

"What do you think of safety?" She asked, a creepy smile forming on her lips.

"Safety is a lie, only the most powerful people can truly feel safe, because they can back it up." I'll keep this simple, I just need to stall for time, no problem.

She smiled seductively, that was creepy, but I can take it.

"I understand, do you feel safe right now?"

"I'm fine, I don't think I'm in any danger right now." Her eyes suddenly got black, and I felt myself falling into a trance.

"Promise me you would kill for me, promise me you would do anything for me." I could feel myself falling, just give in right? No, fighting was a better option, it's what I had said right? I felt safe, and I would back it up.

"Nice try asshole." I said as I punched her in the face. Then Samara decided to come in at that very moment.

"Mother!" She almost yelped.

"I am not your mother, you monster!" She said in a surprisingly calm voice as she mauled her own daughter with biotic power. It came to a stalemate as both of their biotic attacks canceled each other out.

"Shepard, help me end this monster!" Samara said, and I saw something in her eyes that I'd never seen before, fear. She knew I could give Morinth the advantage if I wanted to, but that was wrong, and I knew it."

"End of the line for you." I said, and punched Morinth in the face, making her lose the stalemate as Samara finished her with several biotic attacks, finishing her with extreme prejudice.

"Alright, I think I've had enough of this." I said as I wiped a small bead of sweat from my forehead.

"Are you alright Shepard?"

"I'm fine, this was a mentally draining mission though, you know how creepy your daughter was? Don't answer that, lets get out, I need to rest for a while after this."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"You look drained." I observed as Shepard walked in.

"Lets just say I saw some shit, Legion cause any trouble?"

"No Commander, it's all good, you need to relax, in fact I think you should see Docter Chakwas, you look seriously stressed."

"I'll consider it, but don't count on it, I've got work to do."

Shepard walked to the elevator as I sat back down on my seat to the bridge.

"Shepard tired again?" Joker asked.

"Yeah, does he always do that? He looks like he went through some traumatic event, although the mission he went through sounded brutal."

"Shepard was always like that, he has a strong sense of duty when he's on the battlefield, Docter Chakwas has scolded him one too many times when he's overworked himself."

"You guys seem to have a history with Shepard.''

"What do you mean? Is that a question?"

"Nah, I just see that the bond you guys have is almost like a family one, you all care about each other, I admire that, I worked alone before all of this though, I lost my entire family in an incident I would prefer to not talk about."

"That's fine, I guess I understand why you don't want to talk about your past now. Hold on, I'm getting really thirsty after driving the Normandy for so long, hold on a second, I'll be back."

I had just cracked the security on the IFF while. I cracked it open like an egg and all the viruses started rushing at my Omni-tool.

"Oh shit, gotta stop these." I muttered to myself, this was going to keep me busy for a while.

...

"So where are we going this time?" I asked.

"Shepard told me to plot a course for the Citadel, something to do with Garrus." Joker responded.

"Oh, alright I better go sleep for a bit, I want to be ready if he chooses me."

"EDI will handle the IFF, go get some rest, that thing must've taken ages to crack."

"You don't know hacking like I do, alright, good night." That sounded weird since we were on a ship with no day night cycle but I didn't get a weird look.

I walked into the Crew's Quarters after an uneventful ride off the elevator, I sat down at the edge of the bed, thinking. Since no one was around I decided to look at my locker (if you could call it that) under my bed and pulled out my clothes from my old life. I sat there, thinking of my own stupid life, I never got a girl that truly liked me, and almost all of my family was hunted down and killed.

It changed me after I started the hacking business, gave me the no nonsense attitude, I'm glad I didn't need it here, my old life was much worse then it is now, I actually have a legitimate purpose, and it was a good one. I felt so empty when I was doing hacking jobs for someone else, I didn't need to have any critical thinking, just doing something gave me purpose, but I felt guilty doing it, and I never liked knowing that thousands of people might be killed by my doing. Then I felt something harder then my jeans in the back pocket, and I took out the object that I unknowingly took into the Mass Effect universe.

It was the same ring that Xander had given to me.


	30. Chapter 30: Influence

I'd never put a ring in my back pocket, for the simple reason that it was uncomfortable to sit down with something like it in my back pocket. Especially something like a ring, I would've stored that in a much more safe place. How the hell did it get in my pocket?

It was pulsing softly, with that light that seemed out of this world. It seemed so calm, almost hypnotizing in a way. It made me feel so tired, so very tired. I had time right? Yeah, I could sleep for a while, I had time, there was time for me to rest.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Joker, I'm going with Garrus right now, make sure to tell the crew this isn't shore leave, it's for a mission, they're only allowed off by permission from myself, or Miranda, my XO, is that clear?" I said.

"Yes Commander."

"Good, I'll be gone for a while, it'll be a while before I'm back." I entered the airlock with Garrus.

"So you're sure Sidonis came here?" I asked.

"I tracked him down, I found the ship he was on, but he disappeared after talking to a man named Fade."

"Who's this Fade guy? He sounds shady."

"He was a former C-sec employee, he got fired, but he still knows the systems I believe, he can make you disappear, for a price."

"Let's talk to Bailey, he might know more about him."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Where am I? What happened?"

"Get up." The voice was completely non-emotional, I couldn't detect any accent of sort either.

"Who are you?" It's tone and the way it spoke seemed different, it seemed a lot more distinct, and it commanded respect. I'd heard this from somewhere, I'm sure.

It was a man, unlike anyone I'd ever seen. He was completely devoid of emotion, and his blue eyes were cold and unfeeling.

A picture of a Leviathan flashed into my memory, and then everything made a bit more sense. I could feel the cold and dark sensation. It was utterly unnerving, I had a chill going down my spine.

"How? I d-don't understand, none of this makes sense, how am I here?"

"After thousands of cycles our technology got better, and eventually we were able to bend the fabric of reality to our will, because unlike the constructs you call Reapers, we were organic, we kept asking questions and experimenting, they only preserved knowledge and were bound by their programming."

"Why didn't you just use that to create a weapon to destroy them? I'm sure you would be able to make something that would easily be able to destroy them."

"We never did that, you see after thousands of cycles we realized that no matter our firepower, if we revealed ourselves the Reapers would know we still exist, and they would've hunted us ruthlessly, and so we watched, and waited for a gap in the flow of reality to take control, that happened several cycles ago, but to you it would only have been 10 years."

"You mean the ring was the thrall device? How did you even get me into this world?"

"That is beyond your comprehension, you would not understand our technology."

"But why me? Of all people why did you pick me? I know I'm the best in my field of computers, but I'm horrible in hand-to-hand combat, and there are much better soldiers out there than me."

"We calculated you would bring the best average out of anyone in the alternate reality where none of this will happen, you have a 78.33% average in saving everyone, and the normal percent would be 4.65% out of 7 billion humans, and still keeping this reality close to what it was originally."

"So that was your plan? To bring someone to this universe that would change everything, without their consent? I can understand that you were desperate, but really? That was the best you could do? I'm kind of glad my own saving grace is that the less of a thrall I'm in the more useful I am, so that's why you couldn't fully control me, or the 7,000,000,000 other people that are living on my original planet."

"That is barely a quarter of it, you see we calculated that the chances of any cycle beyond this one of ending the cycle would be decreased to a margin of 3.55% because of how many Reapers there would be. They would get double the normal amount of dreadnoughts from humanity, because of your strong will to survive, you would be a very important resource in continuing the harvest."

"I guess you were all informed of the future through me weren't you then? You saw how the Crucible was more of a half victory and not a real one?"

"The device you refer to as the 'Crucible' was a device originally designed by us, it was meant as a failsafe in case our own synthetics rose up against us, those choices were made by the central intelligence of the Reapers, and it was the one that programmed those choices, although the Crucible itself is much more efficient than that, it shouldn't have destroyed the Mass Relays."

"The crucible was improved upon by many different cycles. The Y'rula added the ending you would refer to as 'control' and the the ending you would refer to as synthesis was added by a race we have yet to name, as they found such titles irrelevant."

"So I was a contingency plan? To ensure that we did finally end the cycle?"

"That is the plan, Shepard may be an anomaly in his own way, but that wasn't enough, the indoctrinated group of this cycle, those you refer to as Cerberus ensured that Shepard would be indoctrinated. Even just a little would be enough to skew his final choice. This exchange is now over, we will communicate with you when we deem it necessary."

I had a nosebleed and a minor headache as I woke up, disorientated from the conversation.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"So we know where he is right now?" I asked.

"Yes, Harkin is in the warehouse district, we can get there from a rapid transit station."

"Wait, I want to get three other squad members onto this, wait a bit." I said as I pushed the button on a rapid transit terminal that would take us to the Normandy.

...

"Tom, Tali and Legion, report to the bridge with full gear."

That was my call. I'd better get suited up. Hopefully I'd be able to fight with a headache.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

I walked into the airlock, where Shepard and Garrus were waiting at.

"Looks like we both lose." Shepard observed for whatever reason.

"Is there something I'm missing?" I asked, it's possible they had bet on something, I'd just broken that.

"Not at all Tom, not at all." Garrus said.

"I'm also here." Tali said as she walked into the airlock with her favorite shotgun.

"That shotgun looks vicious, aim in the general direction of the head, right?"

"Yes, it's a compact design, and it works, that's all I need."

"I'm pretty sure you couldn't have taken those shadow broker mercenaries if we weren't there to save you." Shepard said, a teasing tone in his voice.

"I still have fond memories of Tali destroying a whole lot of geth with that shotgun, I didn't even need to get my hands dirty." Garrus said.

"You're all a bunch of bosh'tets, you know that right?" At that very moment Legion walked in with his widow sniper rifle.

That was awkward, to say the least, there was a moment of silence where we all looked at Legion. Said robot raised his face plates in a sheepish gesture.

Shepard then decided to break the ice and get down to business.

"Alright everyone, we're going after a corrupt former C-sec agent named Harkin, you can kill everyone BUT him, we need to interrogate him, understand?" Everyone nodded.

"Ok, follow me."

We walked out to the C-sec checkpoint and they scanned the entire group. I literally almost pointed to Legion and asked why he was allowed in when that Turian said we were clear to go in. I literally face palmed when NO ONE noticed that we had a Geth, and the fact that the Citadel had been invaded by these things two years begs the question of WHY ARE THEY ALLOWED INTO THE CITADEL?

The stupidity levels were too high for me, I like how Tali had noticed the exact same thing, C-sec security was far too stupid to stop us, I wonder what would've happened if just Legion wanted to get through, I guess I'll never know. I'll never look at Citadel security the same way again, ever. I could get that in the game since the NPC's would allow it for gameplay purposes, but seriously? These were actually legitimate people.

We got to the rapid transit terminal with literally no one batting an eye.

"Alright, everyone in, we're going to find Fade." Shepard opened the car and we all piled in, it had a whole lot more space then I thought it would, I guess Shepard had to compensate for bringing so many people, not that I mind.

"Hey Tali, did you also wonder how Legion got through security?"

"Finally someone else notices! I thought those bosh'tets at C-sec were too incompetent to notice it, no offense Garrus. I actually would've started wondering if it was completely normal for that to happen because no one batted an eye but me and you."

"Geth do not infiltrate." Legion said in what seemed to be an oddly sheepish tone.

I laughed. "I can tell that you'll get along with Legion just fine Tali, just fine."

"You're a bosh'tet" Tali said simply.

"I am, don't need to tell me or anyone else twice, we all know I'm an asshole sometimes." I hate myself for saying that sometimes, even though it is true. I'm an ass to people sometimes, mainly because I never trusted anyone in my old life, only now did I actually find myself opening up to someone, I guess I was a little more trusting now because I knew these people a lot more then they knew me.

"Tali, when are you going to stop reminding me about being a bosh'tet or whatever?"

"Never." Tali said, and punched me lightly, but I knew she didn't mean it.

"You can stop now, we've landed." Shepard said, and we all got out of the car.


	31. Chapter 31: Morality

"Garrus? And Shepard? Guards, shoot them!" Harkin yelled in a blind panic as he fled to the other end of the building.

"Run all you want Fade, we'll find you!" Garrus shouted before doing something that look suspiciously like a quickscope of sorts.

"Get a move on everyone! We need to get to Fade before he escapes!" Shepard shouted, I was sure to follow behind them all.

We got into quite a skirmish with a couple mechs and a Blue Suns merc, Garrus, myself, Shepard and Legion absolutely destroyed them, we sniped them from long range long before they could get a shot off at us, good thing Tali's drone was a pretty good distraction.

"Keep moving!" Shepard said, and I hustled.

"You can't get to me Garrus, give up!" Harkin said with new found confidence over the intercom.

"Uh, Shepard we got some explosive crates above us, be careful." Definitely an environmental hazard I needed to warn them about.

"Keep your eyes peeled team, both for Fade and for those crates."

We soon met several Blue suns and a Commander in waiting for us, we were getting somewhat close to Harkin. My shields started getting pelted, so I activated my cloak when I got into cover. Then I sprinted across the battlefield unnoticed, and then proceeded to use my Siphon on the Commander who hadn't been shot once, and the resulting distraction made everyone else easy pickings for Shepard and his team.

I deactivated my choke after the Commander went limp and joined everyone else. We moved forward, and got to the part where we were in a tiny building inside the warhouse, and where you could see the control tower at the other end, I swear I could see Harkin's smug person through the window, but discarded the useless thought after I heard Shepard talking about something.

"You seem infuriated Garrus, this isn't like you, you're sure you're okay?" Shepard asked, concern showing on his face.

"I just want to get this over with, the longer we take, the more time Sidonis has to get away, I don't like the hold up." He was agitated.

Shepard held up his hands in a placating manner. "Relax, we'll get there, you just don't seem like yourself, we'll deal with Sidonis when we get the chance, now let's get moving."

We moved out and got into a small firefight with a couple mechs, but they were clearly there to buy time, I'm assuming to ready the heavy mechs, I let Tali finish the last one off, and then a crate exploded beside me, which would've killed me instantly had I been a couple meters to the left. I looked up and saw one right above Tali's head. Fortunately I had about a 5 second head start and tackled Tali right to the ground, just as the crate exploded.

"Thanks." Tali said, uncomfortably since I was literally on top of her, I got off her and helped her up.

"This one's on the house." I muttered.

"Was that in yo-"

"No, it wasn't just be glad I saved your ass, otherwise you would've been paste on the ground, good thing we're used to near death experiences though."

"Smooth moves Tom, now let's talk to Fade and go kill Sidonis." Shepard complimented. We then proceeded climbed up the mountain of crates (seriously, who left them there?) and watched as Fade pressed the big red button, bringing in two heavy mechs.

"Nothing can stop me now!" Fade said confidently, he didn't know what was coming."

"Oh, this will." Shepard said in a low voice, and brought out the Cain and charged it up.

"Everybody get down!" I shouted and then Shepard fired the Nuke launcher. The explosion was absolutely huge, and we completely and utterly destroyed the two heavy mechs with one bullet.

"Garrus, take the other side so he can't escape." Shepard said strategically.

We all quickly got up the right side, while Garrus silently got up the left side, shame Fade had a blind spot in the window right below the battleground, sucks to be him.

We walked into the room, Fade still had some confidence, but not nearly as much as before.

"Nice try, but you forgot one thing, I have two exits." He smirked and turned the other way, only to have his smirk wiped right off by a punch to the face.

"Always two steps ahead." I mumbled.

"Harkin, start talking, we need information about a Turian you made disappear." Shepard said, switching to all business mode.

"I'm not telling you, telling people about my clients details is bad for business, and I can't afford losing the little reputation I've built up over the past year." Garrus then proceeded to sack him.

"You were literally begging for it, try again Fade, you know broken bones also happen to be bad for business." I observed.

"Ack- fine fine, who do you need?"

"I have a Turian who betrayed me, his name is Sidonis, I can jog your memory again if I have to." Garrus growled.

"Yeah, I made him disappear a while back, I'll set up a meeting for you." Harkin tapped a couple controls onto the screen and talked with Sidonis for a bit, he cut the line afterwards and uploaded the meeting point to Garrus' Omni-tool and then he looked at us like he was expecting something.

"Can I go now?" He asked like a child that was whining.

"Not so fast Fade, you're a criminal now." Garrus said as he grabbed Harkin's collar.

"So you're seriously going to shoot me? That's not your style Garrus."

Garrus prepared to shoot Harkin in the face, but Shepard stopped him, gestured to his feet and I grinned, Shepard might have had a genius moment there and then Garrus realized what he meant. We left Harkin with a bullet through his leg, on his chair. I guess that'll slow him down for a while.

...

The meeting point was actually near where you did Thane's loyalty mission, at least if my memory serves me right.

"Garrus, I'll keep him talking, we'll work it out from here, okay?"

"Right, I should be able to get a clear view from the catwalk." Garrus said, getting out of the car.

I'd have to sit in the car, a Quarian and a Geth was an 'accident' waiting to happen. I'd listen over comms, but I'd not intervene.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"I have a clear shot, move to the side so I can take it."

I leaned to Sidonis.

"Sidonis, listen to me right now, you see that catwalk behind me? Your previous Squad leader from Omega wants your dead, do you remember why?" His face was grim, probably from the flash of memory.

"I see their faces every night, blaming me, I can hardly get enough sleep, I didn't want to do it, the Blue Suns said they'd hurt me if I didn't, everything tastes bland, and I can never get a moment's, let him take the shot, I'm ready for death at this point." I could see the resignation in his eyes, he knew what he'd done wrong.

"Move it Shepard! Let me take the shot!" Garrus growled in my ear.

"He's already dead Garrus, don't you see that from what he said? Shooting him will change nothing, you have to learn to bury your anger, and right here I'm going to deny your only chance at redemption, your fury is justified, but in the wrong way, blind revenge is only justified if the person in question has done something really bad, and you've already heard what he said, Sidonis didn't even want to." I motioned for him to go, and he did, clearly distraught. I made sure to keep my fat head in the line of fire to ensure Garrus didn't get the shot off.

"You'll thank me later for this."

"I hope so."

...

I got into the Normandy's airlock last. We had 7 missions to go, I think. Now I'm kinda glad that I don't get to go on all of them, sometimes combat was draining, but mostly I was glad that I hadn't gotten much more than a scratch on me from all the combat, mainly because I liked to play it safe, which was completely unlike what I did in the games, but that was to be expected since there was no game over screen.

I was super paranoid about that, but that's a normal thing, for me at the least. I always worried over every little thing, to the little things like getting a bad grade in school, to my mom being gunned down by those men while I was at said school. I never really liked looking at the bright side, I just saw my current circumstances and prepared for the worst, it was just how I thought.

I was stripping off my armor while I thought of this, nothing ever escaped my mind, I worried about everything when I wasn't thinking. It was almost a useless thing to remark on, like brushing your teeth before going to bed.

I sighed, I needed a coffee.

...

Coffee is the best, especially in the future since it magically tastes better, probably because we could get the most flavor out of those ingredients. I wish I could have this more often, but I had it sparingly, because if I had it too much I would get sick of it, and then I wouldn't get anything out of drinking it, and I hated that, I'd learned my lesson one too many times before all this. I watched as Shepard came around, I guess this would be a good time for a chat.


	32. Chapter 32: Unfitting

"I assume you're taking a break like myself?"

"I'm just like you too, I still have to take care of basic needs, you know, the usual."

"Shepard, you're practically invincible, you killed Sovereign, and then when the Collectors killed you in revenge you just shrugged it off like a flesh wound, although it did take two years."

"You know I was just doing my job right?"

"We all are Shepard, but you're the best out of us all, no one compares to you. You saved everyone, well almost everyone." I said the last part in a low voice.

"I hate it when innocents die, that's why I fight, although it pains me to say this, no matter how hard you fight, you can't save them all, that's something I've had to come to terms with."

"I know it's hard Shepard, I hate it too, I hope we'll be prepared for when the Reapers actually come, although I doubt it, the Council is a bunch of ignorant fools."

"Sometimes it seems like they're actually working agasint me, they've denied everything, despite the hard evidence I've presented them."

"I actually have a theory about that."

"I'm listening."

"The Reapers built the Citadel, think about it, if the Protheans built it, why would they mysteriously vanish and have the entire thing left intact, without any signs of visible damage? It's the station, I think it isn't the kind of raw indoctrination you saw Saren full of, but of a more subtle kind, like making them dismiss legends about giant space monsters, mostly just to make them unprepared."

"I think you're right, but they'll never listen to us now, Tevos wouldn't agree, and her word carries a lot of weigh among the Councilers, and even if Anderson sided with us, which he already has in the past, it still wouldn't work."

"You're right, I still don't understand why they won't agree with one of their best Spectres, I guess we're going to learn the hard way." My eyes turned downcast at the last part of this gloomy statement.

"I hate seeing people suffer because of it," Shepard said bitterly. "Especially when it could've been prevented, we're doing the best we can right now to get rid of the Reaper's minions. I wish they would give me and all of us more support, I go out there and bust my ass in the field, and they sit back and reject us most of the time, I'm glad that Anderson got onto the Council, I hope that's affected their decisions, but I doubt it. Humanity's opinion barely matters, makes me wish we discovered the Citadel races earlier, maybe then we could've prepared a bit more." Shepard sure liked to voice his opinions sometimes, I'm glad he does, I've always wanted to get to know his personality, not shape it.

"Thanks for the talk, I'll be going now, I'm pretty sure Joker will get lonely if I stay any longer." Shepard smirked as I left.

...

"I still think that if the Aliens movie from 2013 existed, the military body or what ever they have that counts as military would just bomb the crap out of what ever ship the Xenomorphs were in, and then leave them to die in the vacuum of space." Ahh Joker makes another movie reference from around the 1980s, time to show him up.

"Those movies are absolutely ancient Joker, how the hell do you know about them? That was a century ago." I said

"I was always into the classics, my dad was fanatic of all the old movies, that's how I found out above them, and also make references to them. It reminds me of a simpler time in my life, when I didn't have to worry about getting my baby shot at."

"Well, I guess that makes sense, but it still makes no sense when you reference something EVERY TIME I WALK INTO THE ROOM."

"You're jealous."

I groaned, Joker was getting on my nerves, time to shut him up.

"Can you just stop what you're doing, like now? I just want to work on the Normandy in peace, or I could tell Shepard you have a good stash of Fornax ma-"

"Shutting up, Tom!" Joker said in a loud enough voice to cancel out me saying he had a secret collection of sex magazines.

"Thank you, I'm going to work on editing a couple vids right now, also where are we going again?"

"Shepard told me to travel to Earth, I think it had something to do with you."

"Yeah, it does have something to do with me, thanks for the info." I checked my save data on the vids I had saved. I don't think I'll ever get used to calling it a 'vid' but anything to fit in right? I guess that's what the Asari and all the other aliens called it, maybe that's what caused humanity to adapt to it.

I actually had another video too. I check it out, curiously. I laughed so hard when the video reached his climax.

"I... can't breath." I managed to sputter out in between fits of laughter.

"What'd you get?" Joker asked.

"It's so good, you have to see this Joker, ahaha!" I sent him the file of Khalisah al-Jilani (who he heck named her? I can't even pronouce the dang name, and even after writing it several times.) getting the tar beaten out of her by Commander Shepard.

"Oh this is t- ahahahah! Oh that was good, she deserved it too!" Joker said, getting a laugh too.

"See? I told you, I'm saving that until the end of time, we gotta go get Shepard!''

I said chuckling, I always chose to beat the crap out of al-Jilani, just because it was funny to see her reaction, pity this time she wouldn't have anything prove that Shepard had touched her (besides the fact that she has a black eye), and I'm going to make sure we would get to see this video until my last dying breath, this was absolutely priceless.

"EDI, get Shepard up here, he needs to see this!" I said in the most serious voice I could muster, which wasn't very serious at all.

...

"You guys wanted me for something?" Shepard asked.

"Shepard, I just want you to watch this happen ok? Keep your eyes on the screen when the vid comes up." I said, then I pushed the big red button in the most dramatic way possible, but the effect was ruined because it was a hologram.

"Wait, is tha- oh haha!" Shepard had a good chuckle out of that.

"Oh man, she deserved it too, that was the funniest thing I've ever seen since my entire time on active duty." Shepard tried to keep a straight face, but failed miserable, I'm glad he actually had fun this one time, because the selfish Galaxy kept stopping him from being able to relax, ever, besides when you romance someone.

"I think it's better to watch then actually be there." I remarked.

"Yeah, the angle makes it much more hilarious, although it was very satisfying when I landed the punch.''

"I bet!" Joker said, still laughing.

"I must inform you all the we are one hour away from Earth." EDI interrupted the ordeal.

"Oh, well we can laugh later, Tom I want you to start getting ready."

And there is the Galaxy again, demanding Shepard go save a thousand more lives, not that I didn't like it, but he deserved a lot more than what the Council was giving him, and the fact that Shepard was buried in a bunch of sealed records after he died the first time is just plain disrespect, you never even get to see his gravestone, although they might've taken it down when Anderson found out the Shepard had cheated death.

I hope that this time Shepard actually gets to have that beer with Garrus after activating the Crucible. He deserves it, a lot more then most people, that's way the ending to ME3 sucked, because you never got to see Shepard doing what he deserved, which was having a good time with all of his friends.

I brushed that though aside as I made way for the airlock, where Shepard was waiting of course.

"Well Tom, do you know where we're going after Tali and Kasumi arrive?" Shepard asked.

"It's an old junkyard full of junk near the edge of the city, I think Vincent will have his defenses a good deal higher then before this all. Also be aware that his mercs will probably be targeting me exclusively, since I ruined his life about a year ago."

"Ok, you know where it is?"

"Of course, now we just need to wait a little bit."

...

"Shepard, stop here, I see the junkyard ahead."

We all piled out of the car.

"Alright, how are we going to get in?" Shepard asked, which was a little odd, considering he was the leader of the squad or what ever you want to call it, I didn't really have any ideas either, so I just went with my favorite plan.

"There's two guards at the front gate, I think we should just go in guns blazing, your style."

"Works for me." Shepard said, as he prepared his Omni-tool for a concussive shot.

"I'll blast the gate open with concussive shot, everyone else can go in, use your fancy tech skills, anything you got." Shepard said

"Three, two, one, now!" This was going to be some explosive fun, that's for sure.

Shepard destroyed the chain on the front fence (why did they even use these again? It's the bloody future, just use electrified fences dang it!) and we immediately opened fire on the two guards who just looked at us for a second dumbly, before getting cut down by gunfire or incierated by a stray incinerate from my Omni-tool.

Then an alarm sounded. "Code Red! Everyone to their posts, take out those hostiles!" An intercom sounded.

"Looks like we got their attention now." Shepard said, while popping the thermal clip on his assault rifle.

"Come on, we got a hundred guards to kill and a small amount of time before Vincent knows its me and flees the area."

We advanced down a small path with tons of junk on either side of us, and several guards tried to cut us down.

Tali and me Overloaded one guy, who fell to the floor, twitching, and Kasumi snuck behind the other guy and shot him in the face. But she was quickly shot at, by three other guards. Shepard shot one of them. I sniped the second one, and Kasumi disarmed the third guy and then shot him with his own gun.

"They got me in the leg." Kasumi said, but her tone wasn't distraught or weak.

"Medi-gel will fix that, just a flesh wound." Shepard said and gave her a quick dose.

"I see the office building, everyone hurry up!"

We ran towards it, which was probably a bad idea since my shields got taken down by two perfectly placed sniper shots.

"They got snipers!" I shouted, and dived behind a piece of junk that lay on the ground.

As I said that Kasumi instantly cloaked, Shepard dived behind another mountain of junk and I pulled Tali into cover with me.

"I got this guys, everyone can stay down." Shepard said, before raising with his Viper sniper rifle and shooting one guy faster then I thought possible, and then sniping the other guy, who had shields, he fired off another shot which dragged their shields down, but didn't destroy them.

Then while that sniper was busy I pulled out my Widow and sniped him right between the eyes, it cut right through his shields which weren't meant for that kind of firepower.

"Phew, at least we're no worse for wear." I said.

"We got dozens of baddies in that building and a limited time frame, let's move!" Shepard said in typically drill sergeant style. Time to finish off the one loose end I should've killed before now


	33. Chapter 33: Altruism

"I have no idea how we're going to get through here, anyone have any ideas?" I don't think I should've been asking that, Shepard should've, not me.

"Don't worry about, we can find a side door." Shepard said like it was another day in the office, good thing he took a reasonable course of action. We checked around the side of the building, and found a back door, but it was locked, the old fashioned way, the door was pretty thick too.

"Uh, there is no way we're getting in that way, it's a completely manual door, making it impossible for any of us to hack it, and our guns aren't going to do much." I observed.

Shepard grinned, and then pulled something out of his pocket for all of us to see. Wait, is that a shaped charge? Why does he carry those around?

"You have explosives on you?" Tali asked incredulously.

"Shep sure is full of surprises, ha!"

"Why do you carry these around? I didn't know you had an urge for destruction..."

"Just in case of emergencies." Shepard gave us a wicked grin as he planted the charges. There were several other times he could've used these, dang it!

"Three, two, one, fire in the hole!" The door exploded fantastically, and me and Kasumi instantly activated our cloaks and rushed inside, before they could start shooting at us.

Turns out that the room we entered was as big as a gym, and everyone had fortifications facing the wrong way, as they expected us to enter through the main entrance, not the backdoor. As soon as Shepard and Tali entered the mercs stared at us stupidly for a second before all hell broke loose. Shepard immediately shot a guy that was on the wrong side of cover and stole his cover, Tali followed him.

Kasumi slipped behind everyone and was systematically stabbing everyone in the back with her shadow strike, the only way I knew that was because I had tagged her Omni-tool. I had got several headshots, in the back of the head.

Shepard was doing everything at once, he was shooting, spamming concussive shot and when some guards tried to flank them, commanding Tali to use her combat drone. The only way to describe the situation for us was organized chaos, Shepard was keeping close tabs on me an Kasumi, keeping in a pretty constant radio contact, in between bursts of gunfire.

It took us about 10 minutes to clear the room, then I deactivated my cloak because it need to regenerate, which I will never understand, since the battery seemed to recharge on it's own with no energy source I could discern.

"Good work people, the next floor is the last, be ready." Everyone followed Shepard's lead up the flight of stairs, I guess they couldn't afford an elevator.

We again walked into a huge room, but it was slightly smaller than the bottom floor, I saw a door at the other end of the room. There were a total of 5 guards there, and they lasted a total of 4 seconds, mainly because none of them had invested in armor with shields. Then we were once again faced with the dilemma of how to breach the door without instantly getting cut down, why didn't Shepard pack grenades in the second game again?

"This is why I carry small explosives." Wait a second, again this make a whole lot of situations where he could've used them make no sense.

"Why didn't you use it when we were on Haelstrom then?" I asked.

"That's where I got the idea." Shepard said as he adhered a couple charges to the wall.

"Three...NOW!" Shepard said before blowing the door straight off it's hinges, I hate violent surprises.

Shepard and myself rushed inside, to where four guards were with shields and Vincent himself. Everything happened at the same time.

Me and Tali and Kasumi instantly overloaded three of the four guards shields and started shooting at them. At that moment Shepard shot the fourth guy with a concussive shot, making him flinch, although his shields didn't go down, then shot him twice with a shotgun, the force of the second shot throwing him into the wall, dead.

Vincent was the only one that managed to get any shots off, and they were on me, but my shield deflected most of them, he took down my shields and got one shot into my gut, but I ignored the pain out of anger and gave him a nasty backhand.

"So you think you can get away this time?" I think it's time I fixed that."

Tali and Kasumi backed away, Shepard just nodded.

"Look man, it wasn't personal, you were too dangerous to be ali-" I shut him up by punching him the jaw, then I took out my pistol.

"You think you can just mess with me like that? You're going to die, but first I'm going to make you suffer." I shot him in the leg, and then the other leg.

"Fuck you, asshole." Was all he said.

I shot him in his left shoulder, hearing him cry out in pain, and then shot him in the second shoulder.

Then I pointed the gun to his head. "Any last words?" He looked me with pure malice, it was so hateful it would be difficult to realize he was wounded if you only saw his face.

That's when he rolled around on his back, and there was a huge amount of explosives on his back, and then I realized why he was stalling.

"RUN HE'S A SUICIDE BOMBER!" I shouted before diving at Shepard to shield him from the blast, Tali and Kasumi ran out of the room enough, but I knew there wouldn't be enough time for Shepard or me to leave the room, my body shielded him from the blast. A brief moment of agony, pure suffering, and then it was all black.

I thought I died there, my consciousness was slipping from my own grasp, and all I could see or feel was the blackness, it was so total, I almost embraced it, but it felt so wrong, like someone was trying to pull me towards the light, and I couldn't remember who, other then that it was someone who cared and that I should comply.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Chakwas, is Tom going to be alright?" I asked.

"I'm doing the best I can for him Shepard, what happened again exactly?"

"Well, we were interrogating a guy named Vincent, next thing I know he's screaming bomb and dives at me, turns out he had a ridiculous amount of explosives strapped to his back. Tom shielded me from the blast, but as you can see, he's definitely hurting."

"Oh dear, I'll do the best I can for him Shepard, I do believe he'll live based on his current injuries."

"Good thanks, I'll go inform everyone else."

That was absolutely brutal, I barely even grasped what happened at the time of the explosion. He saved me though, that's for sure.

"Shepard, is Tom going to be alright?" Tali asked as I walked out of the Medbay.

"He'll live, but he isn't conscious right now, and he won't be for a while, I don't know how long he'll be out for."

"Thanks Shepard, I was a little worried there."

I owed Tom one now, he saved my life, that could've gone much much worse. He could have not reacted fast enough and died, he could've ran, but not dived for me, resulting in my own death, and he could've got everyone killed if he'd just stood there and stared at it out of fear, this is why I needed the best, next time I would have to be more careful, that was a lucky break, I'm glad no one died, but Tom would be out of commission for a while.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

I almost didn't want to open my eyes, almost. I had to though, and I instantly regretted it because the lights were blinding me, I try to raise my hands to block it, but I was too weak, and it hurt too much. I tried to say something but it just came out as a muffled grunt out of my dry mouth. It worked though, it got the attention of Dr. Chakwas, who looked over, and then quickly grabbed a bottle of water with a straw.

"Here, drink this." I gratefully complied, my mouth was dry and seemed to be enflamed

"How are you feeling?"

"My back feels like I took a dip in a pool of lava."

"Oh right, Shepard told me you shielded him from a bomb, with your own body, you dislocated your spine." The reality of that him me light a freight train.

"Will I ever be able to walk again?" I asked, trying not to sound scared.

"Don't worry about it! It isn't a really big deal, I'm going to be re-orienting it tomorrow, really you don't need to looks so scared, today's medicine can cure a lot of things."

I calmed down a lot after that, how could I forget modern medicine? Taking a bomb for someone else may make you forgot this was 100 years in the future and we had the technology to cure cancer.

"Several crew mates wanted to talk to you Tom, would you like to see them?" Dr. Chakwas asked.

"Who wants to talk?"

"Namely Tali, Garrus, and Miranda."

"Sure, but not now, I'm not going to sugarcoat it, I feel like death right now, I'd think I'd rather sleep for several more hours then talk for a bit right now."

"Of course, I'll give you an anesthetic to make it less painful."

...

XXXXXXXXXXX

(When the above happens, it means a change in Point of view, and and a passing of time.)

"Is it alright to see him now?" I asked, unsure.

"He needed some rest Tali, but he just woke up, I assure you, he'll be fine." Dr. Chakwas said reassuringly. I almost cursed at myself, even though he was a total bosh'tet, I still cared for him, I wouldn't ever admit it to him though, not until I felt necessary.

"Go on in, I'm sure the suspense is killing him." I gave her a slight nod and entered the room, Garrus followed me silently.

It was a bit worse than I expected, and I wasn't even looking at his back.

"Tom, are you okay?" I asked in a small voice.

"I'm not going to lie, I feel like death, although I believe Shepard's record of shrugging off death as if it was a flesh wound still stands."

"I think that's a bit much to ask for someone like you." Garrus said.

"It did take Shepard two years to recover, and he wasn't exactly alive then, but he DID survive death, so it does count." I observed, he stopped my talking at that moment with a hand gesture I assume meant to stop.

"Think about it though, Shepard is a tough son-of-a-gun, he cheated death, that's pretty hard to top, maybe I should ask him how it was like, being dead."

I shivered at the the thought of that. "I can't ever think about that, the thought of a universe without Shepard would be pure chaos."

"Enough with the talk that's deflecting the main subject, how are you doing?" Garrus asked.

"Well, my back feels like I decide to swim in a star, for starters, but being alive is a major plus, considering the guy that tried to kill me killed himself in the process."

"What exactly happened there? Shepard never told us, just to get the stretcher."

I chipped in before he could get a word in. "It was horrible Garrus, the guy he was interrogating was wired with explosives on his back, me and Kasumi got out of there in time, but they were too close to him and Tom had to dive to Shepard and save him from any injuries."

"I think I'm going to have scars on my back too, I have like third degree burns, or something like that, ask Chakwas, I'm not a doctor."

Chakwas happened to conveniently be in the room at the time.

"He has third degree burns, and several pieces of shrapnel were sticking out of his skin, I think there is still some shrapnel stuck in his skin, I'll be doing some surgery later, with the help of Miranda. I think that's enough for today you two, thanks for coming by."

"Yeah, I'm glad I have people to talk to, otherwise I'd go crazy, thanks guys."

Me and Garrus left after a couple parting words.


	34. Chapter 34: Salubrity

I have surgery several days later. Dr. Chakwas got all of the shrapnel out, and realigned my spine with a machine while I was unconscious. I don't know how, but she fixed my back in the process which, which was my fault, sitting at a computer all day is horrible for your back, it got so bad that I pretty much never thought about the pain twice, but now it felt better then it had in years, I sound like an old man.

I saw Shepard at the end of every mission he completed, it sounded like he only had four loyalty missions left, and I think he didn't screw up any of them, I think. The good doctor predicted I would be good to go after he finished one more loyalty mission after the one he was already on, I admit that I was a bit antsy, but screwing around with my Omni-tool and seeing what else it could do cured most of the boredom.

...

Shepard walked into the room after completing yet another loyalty mission, which seemed like it took forever but that left my count from four to three.

"Hey Tom, how are you holding up?" He asked.

"I'm good, constant visits from everyone and screwing around with my Omni-tool kept me busy."

"I could never image how all the tech specialists on the Normandy even get that much use out of them, I only ever used it to dispense Omni-gel and help me browse the extranet a bit."

I almost laughed at that, but bit my lip, mocking Shepard wasn't usually good for your health, or pride, but he was barely scratching the surface of what it could do, I could track people, throw out a hail storm of powers, it could act like a portable computer, read emails, check out what is going in the galaxy and hack into anything I could think of.

"We get around, I don't understand how you carry more then two guns, and can get multiple head shots in before the last man can draw his gun."

"I guess it's more of a natural instinct, although it may or may not be military training and technolodgy that allows me to exploit my adrenaline glands, good talking with you. I got to go and check on engineering now, I bet Gabby or one of the other engineers wants to talk and or needs a favor, be seeing you."

"Tom, it's medication time, you still need some medication to make sure infection doesn't catch on, also hold still, I need to inject you with some nano machines to make sure your immune system can fend off cancer and such, speaking of which, why didn't your parents get this done at an early age?" Chakwas asked, a hint of suspicion in her tone.

"My parents were a bit, extreme when it came to allowing me to use anything that involved technology, they thought that giving me an injection would give me autism." I hope that the suspicion of that was still around, I didn't want her to be any more suspicious then she already was.

She sighed. "Good riddance, that uneducated myth is so stupid by now, I thought it would've died off by now, pity it still exists, as a Docter I can assure that giving someone an injection has nothing to do with developing autism, this should straighten things out." I'll admit that it was little weird when I got injected, I better make sure they can't be hacked later, that would be a terrible way to die. That'd be pretty low though, I doubt it.

"Thanks Doc, I never really thought of getting an injection after I left my parents."

"What did happen to your parents? You never talk about them, Shepard doesn't even know about them."

I sighed, better straight up lie to her. "My parents disowned me for the same reason as why I didn't get an injection as a kid, my parents said I was 'too into technolodgy' and that it was 'too dangerous, and that I was over reliant on it' so I don't see them anymore."

"Pity, but we do still have cases like them in our world, sometimes I wish they would just accept that technology is our life now, such a shame, now I think you're done now, have one more good night of sleep, and then the medication should take effect."

"We're in space Doctor, there is no day/night cycle, remember?"

"True, I've just been on ships for so long now that sometimes I forget we really don't have one, you'd think I would think of it naturally now, but no matter, get a good sleep Tom." I hated going to bed at a time when other people were still awake, it made me feel like an old person, I think I've already thought about that twice now though.

...

I woke several hours later, and I felt, different. Not like a crazy 'I'm secretly a robot' thing or anything, I just felt a like something was off, I shrugged it off, it was probably the nano machines.

"Hello Tom, did you sleep well?" Chakwas asked. she had a steaming cup of coffee which looked very appealing to me right now.

"I feel a little off, but otherwise I feel fine."

She suppressed a laugh. "Oh those are just the nano machines bonding, adults are much more sensitive about it, just making sure you know, you can go now, I'm pretty sure Shepard will be done his mission in around 2 hours." I'm glad the nano machine thing is something only educated people know, otherwise I'd probably being taken as a fool, or get an odd look. I needed to clear my head, I still felt a little tired. I needed a coffee.

The coffee did a wonder, it cleared my head, I'm glad Shepard got the high quality rations because it actually tasted like coffee this time, so I could really enjoy it, other times I only drank it because of the caffeine, which usually helped me get up in the morning, but it didn't do much other then that, I could actually enjoy this stuff.

Then something struck me, really hard. I forgot that my armor was just a charred mess now, the only thing intact was the helmet. Oh shit, I hope we're going to the Citadel because this time I'm going to have to get it legitimately. I hadn't spent much credits fortunately, so I was at about 85,000 still, which I think was a lot more then I thought. I hope the armor isn't too too expensive because otherwise I'm pretty much screwed until I can scrap up enough funds.

I couldn't really do anything at the moment though, because Shepard was on a mission, and I wasn't allowed outside the Normandy. I figured I go to the bridge, I'd still needed to fix the reaper IFF anyway.

...

"You're finally back Tom! I almost missed you, almost." Ah, Joker.

"I'm not here for your wisecracks Joker, where is that IFF?''

"It's still on your seat, I made sure it didn't do anything, you sure it isn't broadcasting anything right now?"

"It's not that I'm worried about, that was solved a little while ago, I was actually coming to a breakthrough on how to stop it from locking down our ships systems when we introduce it into our systems, so I'll be fixing that up quickly." I ignored the rest of his remarks as I started trying to hack those encryptions on the stupid piece of metal, or what ever fancy material the reapers used on the IFF.

XXXXXXXX

"Thane, I have eyes on Koylat, he's going to make his move now, I can't get a clear shot without risking that politician, get your ass over here, now!"

"Copy that Shepard, I'm movi-" I completely ignored him in favor of watching Kolyat attempt his assassination. Quite frankly I think he should've just taken the shot right there instead of taking him hostage, but who am I to critique an assassin? I only saw the kid take him hostage because after that I had to climb down from one of the ladders because I didn't plan on breaking my legs by jumping from the catwalk, plus I wouldn't draw as much attention to myself if I went that route.

"Stop, right there!" I shouted as I pulled out my Carnifex, but the words fell on deaf ears as he pulled himself into one of the rooms at the end of the hallway. I opened the door to see a standoff happening with Thane, and his own son, that must have been awkward.

"Drop the gun, this is a losing situation." I said in a commanding voice, I half expected it to not work, mainly because he had a hostage, or 'insurance' as some would say.

Thane chipped in, although he didn't remind Kolyat the he was his own father. "Drop the gun, that Turian is innocent, don't go down the wrong pat-"

I interrupted him, although I don't know a lot about parenting, I do know that telling Kolyat his bloody DAD is in the room would be help, even if it was just a tiny bit. Who am I kidding? I have absolutely no idea how to handle this, this isn't what I signed up for when I joined the alliance. "What he's meaning to say is this is he is your own father, and that he doesn't want to see you go down the same path."

He blink for a second, and lowered his gun just a bit, a bit of disbelief in his eyes. "Father?" His tone quickly changed to an angry one "I-" I didn't let him get another word in and rushed forward and tackled him to the ground and restrained him. At that moment C-sec decided to pick up their bony asses and secure the area, I'm glad I didn't have to do anything more, because Koylat stopped struggling once he realized it was a losing battle when C-sec arrived to clean things up.

...

"Thanks Shepard, that's one more thing I don't have to worry about." Bailey said.

"Don't mention it, I'm just doing my job."

"Ha! Like they asked you to stop an assassination attempt when you signed up, what was it you wanted to talk about again?"

"Well Thane is Koylat's father, and I think I'll let them explain from there." I stepped out of the following conversation. Thane and Koylat were both slightly teary eyed, and Bailey took the good course of action, letting them have a room and as much time as they needed.

"Gee, that's a lot of complicated stuff you were dealing with there Shepard, did you ever realize that when you signed up?" He asked.

"All in a day's work."

"Ha! You make it sound easy, getting on to more important matters, his story reminds me of a case that happened about ten years ago, where a bunch of real bad people were killed, it sounded like someone was cleaning house, the leading suspect was Drell, we never did convict him." He added a suspicious tone to the last part of that.

"Don't arrest him, he's a good man, he only killed the people that were truly monsters, believe me, the mission I went on was..."

...

XXXXXXXXXXX

I watched as Shepard and a very relieved looking Thane walked into the airlock, and then into the ship.

"Looks you like you guys did some fun stuff."

"I wouldn't classify it was fun, but alightening nonetheless." Thane muttered before heading to the elevator.

"Eh, got to see Thane talk to his son for the first time in years." Shepard said casually.

"Well, we still have a problem." His face fell. "I need armor."


	35. Chapter 35: Solicutous

I almost regretted dropping that bomb on him, almost. But it couldn't be helped, if I were to see anymore missions then I would need some form of protection. "Only thing I have left of that mission is my helmet, and that's broken."

He sighed. "I always forget the important things, come with me, I'll get you a new set of armor." I was taken aback by that.

"Wait what? I can buy my own armor, why do you want to buy it for me?"

"It's my fault that I forgot it, and I feel like I owe you, EDI inform Miranda she has the ship."

"As you wish, Commander." EDI said before her hologram disappeared.

"Walk with me." We left the ship and entered an air car, flying back to the same area where Bailey was.

"You don't have to do this Shepard, I owe you nothing, and you owe me nothing." I attempted to persuade him, but it was useless in the end.

"No, you need the armor and I can't have one of my crew struggling with this issue, and besides." He gave me a small grin "Cerberus pays well." I wasn't one to take favours, but I guess just this once I'd accept. I wasn't getting paid anyway.

...

That armor Shepard got was expensive, it costed around 50,000 credits. That would've destroyed my wallet, I'm glad he bought it now, I didn't exactly plan on selling my jeans from my old life, but I probably would've had to if I had to buy it myself. It looked good, it reminded me of the armor Kai Leng wore, but a little more grey, and it didn't have that Cerberus symbol on it. It actually felt lighter too. Shepard also repaired my helmet, and how he fixed it without me noticing I'll never know. It had a red interface now instead of the usual blue one.

...

"So, how do I look?" I asked Shepard.

"You look like a very shady person."

"No shit Sherlock, I'm an infiltrator, it's my JOB to be sneaking around the battlefield."

"You're full of it, you know." Tali said. Alright, I swear I never heard the armory door opening, where did she come from?!

"And where did you come from? I didn't even hear the door open!"

"She came in behind me, and I think you're just deaf." Shepard teased.

"Alright, just give me a word of warning or something next time, I wasn't expecting you."

"I think I'll leave you two alone, I have business to attend to as a Commander." Go figure he plays that card right now. 'I'm sorry, but I have business and Commander stuff as the Captain of this ship'

I took off the helmet. "Why did you decide to come visit me anyway?"

"It's about the future."

"Alright hold that thought for a second." I tapped a couple buttons on my Omni-tool, nothing seemed to happen though.

"What'd you do?"

"Just made sure EDI can't hear us, I just isolated her from the ship, make it quick though, someone is bound to notice soon."

"I wanted to know what would happen to me after the suicide mission, and everyone else, can you even remember that?" She asked.

"I'm only going to tell things that are going to happen to you, I can't risk the future changing too much can I? Anyway, after we finish the mission you leave to go back to the flotilla and since you were never exiled, that's all I can say, other then that the Reapers ARE real and that they're coming." I disabled the lock on this room, just so that EDI or anyone else would get suspicious.

"I guess that's what I expected, thanks for clearing that up.

"Yeah, it's simple, just be ready for the Reapers, they're as real as Shepard makes them out to be."

She wrung her hands. "It's terrifying to think they're waiting out there, just to exterminate all of us."

"I'm not going to lie, it was nightmare stuff, what I saw, I'm hoping this time I can ensure that we win, I'm going to help Shepard however I can."

"I just don't know what to think, I've been in the flotilla for so long, it's always about helping your friends, being the person that lost in the lose-win scenario, it's just, I don't know what to think, these Reapers, I'm wondering how much we're going to sacrifice to stop them."

"I'll try my best to stop them, but like I remember Shepard said, no matter how hard you work, you can't save them all, thanks for the talk, I think I'll be going now."

...

"So where are we going again?" I asked.

"Illium, I think it's time we help Miranda." Shepard said.

"Oh, ok, when should I gear up?"

"Now, we'll be at Illium in about 30 minutes." Ugh, now I have to put it on after literally taking it off five minutes ago.

"Alright, who else is with us?"

"Jacob is also coming, I decided to bring him along since I think we're going to need a lot of biotics, you're just here in case there happens to be anything I need hacked, and having a tech expert is always useful." Technology all the way, biotics make you eat more, all technology demands is that you be good at computers, which is probably a challenge in of itself, never mind, it takes a fair amount of skill to be a tech expert too.

"Well, I'm pretty resourceful if I do say so myself."

Shepard rolled his eyes. "Don't let it go to your head." I left after that statement to go get my armor on for the second time this day.

...

"Hey Jacob." I greeted.

"Oh hey Tom, how are you?"

"I just got some new armor, if you haven't seen yourself." I struck a pose.

"Yeah yeah, lucky you. I got biotics though, so it evens out between the two of us."

"You're probably right, everyone on the ship has some niche to fill, I guess that's what makes us so deadly, because we have so many different strengths and a good Commander to lead us."

Jacob grinned. "I'd drink to that, let's get going now, before Miranda and Shepard get bored." I nodded in affirmation and followed him out of the armory.

...

"Alright, Miranda, where's your contact?"

"Just follow me." She said in a very controlled voice, be she couldn't conceal the worry that was evident in her tone.

"Gee, talk about family issues." I said to Shepard, out of the earshot of Miranda.

"I have to admit that I can't really relate to that, my father died while I was a baby, the only other family member I know is my mom, Hannah Shepard."

"What happened to your father?"

"I can barely remember the details now, I think he sacrificed himself to save his platoon and finish the mission, but that's all I can remember."

"Ok, thanks for sharing, but I think Miranda is near her contact." I said.

...

"So the plan is to get shot while we're in this car, and then attempt a negotiation to save your sister? Sounds like an unconventional plan, but I'll roll with it."

"That's the gist of it, now everyone get in the car!"

...

"Everyone brace yourselves!" Shepard shouted before we got hit by a high impact shot from a futuristic version of a helicopter.

Good thing I already knew what was going to happen, and since in real life cars don't instantly explode when they land on the ground from a fall, no one was hurt.

"Everyone out!" Shepard shouted.

We all rushed out and into the open, where it looked like we were going to be executed by a firing squad. Fortunately the merc Commander told everyone to stand down, as he realized who we were.

"You're the girl?" He asked, Miranda nodded.

"Alright, come with us, we won't hurt you or any of your companions if you go peacefully, but the boss said you might not want to, so that's why I brought a squad, and I doubt you'd survive if you come with us.

Miranda's expression hardened. "I'd like to see you try." She said before stepping to the right, revealing Shepard who had a fully charge M-920 Cain. Wait, when did he bring that out? Let alone step behind Miranda without anyone noticing?

"Dodge this, assholes." Shepard said before shooting a big one, which completely obliterated the competition.

"Wow, oh shit that destroyed the competition, I wasn't expecting it either, but it worked." I said, taken aback by how close I was to the explosion.

Shepard grinned. "It did."

"Alright I think we have to hurry, Oriana might get in trouble if we don't act quickly."

...

"Ok I officially hate the eclipse too." I said in between bursts of gunfire, we were near the elevator which takes us the top floor, but the eclipse mercs were pretty good at stalling us, although it did come at the heavy cost of their life.

"Keep pushing! We're almost there!" Shepard said before firing a concussive blast at one of the mercs, who then burst into flames from my incinerate.

The firefight was a little weird, considering that the gunfire would stop every time the crane came around carrying a box. This unfortunately meant the battle felt a lot more drawn out than it should've but we still won anyway, but they served their purpose, they had stalled us for a long time

"Hurry everyone! The lift is over there, hurry up!" Miranda shouted.

I pressed the button once everyone was inside and the elevator shot upwards to a very heart breaking reunion.

"We're almost there, and I think we killed most of the mercs." Miranda said, all the worry draining from her face. But it was quick to come back when the elevator door opened and there Nicket stood, next to a merc Commander.

"Wait, what the hell? Nicket what are you doing with that merc?"

"Miranda, I thought you'd show up soon."

"What the hell is this?"

"I'm sorry Miranda, but what you're doing is too much, you stole Oriana from a life of luxury and I think it's time she got back to that, do you know what she could've had if you let your father have her?"

Miranda looked at him sadly. "Now I know how my father found Oriana quickly, this means you're also the only loose end, I'm going to regret this." Miranda said as she pulled her sidearm out of her pocket.

"I'm sorry it had to end this way." Miranda said and shot Nicket in the face.

The airport official who was nearby gasped and ran, but the Merc Commander shot her.

"I was getting tired of the chit chat anyway." She said.

Miranda threw her biotically. "I was too."


	36. Chapter 36: Placater

"Tom, deal with her reinforcements, everyone else, target that Merc leader!" Shepard said, snapping orders out real fast.

While everyone was busy shooting and getting shot at I took cover and engaged my tactical cloak. I still think it's a real cheap way to win, because it seems much harder to see in real life then it does in the games. Good thing it's also the class that gets wounded the least, because I hate getting wounded, it's a huge drag sitting in a hospital bed all day.

I flanked the Merc commander's reinforcements by taking a side route that had a lot of boxes as cover. Mainly because I didn't plan on catching a stray bullet and having it destroy my cloak. I got a couple head shots across their defensive line, which caused shit to hit the fan, since about four Mercs turned around and started spraying every single thing with bullets, and they were shredding all the cover, I could barely get two more shots off before my position was showered with bullets.

Fortunately by that time the Merc leader had been dealt with and most of the Mercs got shot in the back by Shepard's team. The whole firefight lasted a total of four minutes, but it seemed so much longer than that.

"Tom, you alright? They dumped a truckload of ammo on you." Jacob asked.

"My shields took a few hits, but I'm fine, thanks for saving me, again."

Jacob chuckled. "I guess that's a normal thing now isn't it?"

"Another day in the office, is it wrong that I consider near death experiences normal now?"

"Can we go now? I want to make sure Oriana is safe." Miranda said, paranoid.

"She said it guys, move out." We all piled into a second elevator behind Shepard. The elevator took about five seconds to reach the floor where all the civilians were. I saw Oriana and her extended family right across from us.

I could tell Miranda was no where near as stressed as she was at the beginning of this mission. "There she is... safe."

"Hey, don't you want to go talk to her?" Shepard asked.

"No, the less she knows about me the better, I can't interfere with her life."

"You can afford to be normal right now Miranda, we'll wait here, you deserve the downtime." Shepard said.

"Now that I think about it, sure I'll go see her." She walked over to go see her sister.

"I guess it all works out for her in the end doesn't it?" I said.

"Yeah, I'm glad she's happy, she always seems like she's in tight control of her emotions, it's good to see her like this." Jacob said.

"It's good to see a family reunion, I miss my mom sometimes." Was all Shepard said.

Miranda talked to her sister for about ten minutes, she even gestured to us once, I guess to show she had friends.

"Thank you.." Miranda said as she came back to us, she was in tears.

We returned to the Normandy after that, it all went by in a blur, I guess I can relax a bit now, we only have two more missions, Legion's loyalty mission and the suicide mission. I took off my armor and went down to the crew deck in the elevator, I needed a coffee. It seemed to take a little longer then normal to come up to me, I guess that's because someone else was using it.

I rode down to the crew deck and walked to the mess area. Miranda's door closed just as I entered the area. I grabbed a cup of coffee. I absentmindedly surfed the extranet, just to have something to read. I felt like there was something I was supposed to do, something that was essential. The realization was like a slap in the face. Jack was confronting Miranda right now.

I immediately paged Shepard on my Omni-tool. "Uh, Shepard we have a situation on the crew deck in Miranda's office, they're having a serious fight with each other right now, you need to get down here." There was a pause.

"Can you stall them?"

"I can, but for a limited time, get down here as fast as possible." I said before opening the doors to Miranda's office, revealing two powerful biotics.

"I will smear the walls with you, bitch!" Jack shouted.

"Tom, what the hell are you doing here?" Miranda inquired forcefully.

"Shepard isn't going to like this, I'd recommend you guys stop, now for my sake, but your own."

"You can't tell us what to do! And besides, this bitch is asking for it." Miranda's biotics flared.

"The cheerleader won't admit what Cerberus did to me was wrong." Jack said darkly.

"You were an accident of a rouge facility, you weren't supposed to have all of this biotic potential."

"Shut up bitch! Just because it was rouge facility doesn't mean Cerberus wasn't behind it!" I had to do something, I don't think I'll be able to stall much longer.

"Woah, stop this! You guys are going to tear out a bulkhead at this rate!" I shouted before stepping in-between them.

"I've had enough of you Tom, always snooping around, see how you handle this!" Jack shouted before unleashing a throw on me.

XXXXXXXX

I raced down the crew deck and opened the door to Miranda's office. Only to see Tom get thrown to the wall right beside the door frame.

"Oh hi Shepard, I uh, I think I'm done for the day." He said weakly before falling unconscious.

"What the hell do you think you too are doing?! You just impaired a crew member!" I shouted.

"Jack, I can understand your rage, but there is no excuse for injuring someone else because of YOUR anger, especially since he wasn't involved in that fight at all. That is unacceptable, and I won't tolerate that kind of behavior on my ship, fall in line, or get OUT!"

"And you Miranda, let your personal opinion get in the way of the mission, which is absolutely unacceptable, and extremely unprofessional." She cringed when I made that statement. "Both of you need to put aside your personal hate of each other or both of you will get off my ship, is that clear?!" I scared them into submission.

"Yes Commander." Miranda said stiffly, Jack nodded her head numbly and left the room.

"Good, I don't want anymore fights from either of you, otherwise I will follow up with my punishment." I stated before dragging Tom out from the room.

"Geez, what happened?" Garrus asked as I stepped outside with an unconscious Tom with me.

"Let's just say he 'tried' to stop a fight, he was actually stalling for me, it didn't turn out to well for him, I'm taking him to the Doctor right now."

"I don't think I'll question you further, just get him to the Doctor." Garrus said, very slightly shaken when he realised who was behind the fight.

I don't blame him, there were two very powerful women in that fight, and if that had gotten out of hand we might've had to hospitalize someone, at least I only have Tom suffering a concussion. I dragged him into the Med bay where Chakwas was.

"Oh dear, what happened now? Tom got out of here only several days before now."

"Concussion I think, he hit a wall from what I believe is a throw, he'll be fine right?"

Chakwas looked at Tom. "He'll be fine with a little bit of rest, he'll have a couple bruises on his face and maybe a black eye, try not to overwork him for the next day." She said.

"I'm going to plot a course to our next destination, I'll leave him here." I made way for the elevator after that, I sure hope we don't have any more of these fights, at least I'll be able to deal with them if another one comes up.

I was about to press the call button on the elevator when it suddenly opened, Tali was there.

"Oh hey Shepard, how are you doing?" She asked politely.

"I'm doing fine, although I had to stop a fight that went on in Miranda's office."

"What happened?"

"Jack and Miranda were fighting, I couldn't get there in time since I was upgrading my armor when it happened, Tom stalled for me, but it came of the unfortunate cost of a concussion."

"Oh, that doesn't sound good."

"It isn't, he won't be conscious by now, but it won't hurt to check, I need to go plot a course for our next destination now, bye." She nodded and left the elevator.

I guess now was the time Tom started getting injured, he hadn't got a scratch on any of our previous missions, he was luckier than most, he always seems to get to all the good overwatch positions really fast, and he almost never has his shields down, but that's to be expected from an infiltrator, they tend to get the least wounded when in battle, due to being able to cloak.

I envied him in that sense, I never understood technology very well, I'm only good with instructions, nothing else. It evens out in the end though, I have much better training in shooting things, and I'm able to run ten miles with a full kit.

"Joker, have we approached the Mass relay?" I asked.

"Yes Shepard, awaiting orders from the Galaxy map."

"Alright, I'm entering the coordinates now, do you see them?"

"Yes, and Commander, why are we entering the Perseus veil?"

"Legion has something he needs done in the Heretic main base, that's where we are heading, proceed to the coordinates."

"Yes Commander."

...

XXXXXXXXXXX

"I'm here again?" I looked around, I was in the grey void again, the one where I talked with that Leviathan.

"Yes."

"I didn't even have the ring with me this time."

"The first time you used the device it infected you with a temporary virus, which allows limited neural connection from a set distance away from the nearest device."

"Right, what is it you want with your 'servant' now?"

"We wanted to inform you about the end."

"You mean the end of Mass Effect 3?"

"Yes, the four endings chosen were very one sided victories. If Shepard chooses control he would eventually become indoctrinated."

"Would she be like a new Harbinger?"

"Yes, that is the outcome of the 'Control' ending. The second ending, synthesis would result in lasting peace, however the Reaper intelligence, the one you know as the 'start child' wouldn't experience the perfection, and eventually would order the reapers to exterminate all sentient life and the cycle would begin again."

"That's understandable, what about the last two?"

"The ending you refer to as 'destroy' would kill the reapers, and it would end the cycle, but it would also kill EDI and the geth, although this isn't as of calculate risk as the other 'endings' it would disable all technology for an undetermined time, creating chaos, although this is the best possible ending."

"And of course the fouth ending, do nothing pretty much explains itself."

"Yes, even with every current space faring species' combined might, there is a very very small calculation that you would have sufficient firepower to destroy or render all Reapers inoperable."

"So what are we going to do?"

"We have a plan."


	37. Chapter 37: Stagnation

"He'll fine Tali, he just suffered a concussion, he should have a bit of bruising around his face, but otherwise he'll be fine."

"I was a little worried there."

"Don't be, he'll be fine at this point, although I can understand why you're worried, he did get mauled by a very powerful biotic after all."

"Thanks for the reassurance Doctor, I guess trying to stop that fight was a bad move, wasn't it?"

"Sometimes when we want to save the world it doesn't want to be saved." Chakwas said sadly.

"Is that a human saying?"

"Yes, I don't get to use that one often, I learned it from one of my colleagues while I was in medical school, a bit poetic, isn't it?"

"Not what I'm used to."

Something beeped on Dr. Chakwas's computer. "Oh, what's this?"

"Something the matter?"

"He seems to be having an intense dream right now, similar to what happened to Shepard on Horizon, back before he recruited you."

"You mean when Saren was still alive?"

"Yes, Shepard had to pull Kaiden out of the pull of a prothean beacon that we were supposed to take home with us, but Shepard couldn't get out of it's sphere of influence before he was sucked in, it gave him some sort of vision, about organics being slaughtered by synthetics."

"That sounds like quite the tale."

"It is, I don't think we have the time to discuss it now, I think I'll be going now, I have to get to sleep. She had bags under her eyes, is that what humans look like when they're tired?

But then Tom stirred.

"Oh, it looks like he's waking up."

"Is that a bit quicker then he should've woken up?"

"Actually yes, he should still be dreaming right now, that's a little odd, but I've done some similar things when I sleep, I sometimes wake up in the middle of a dream so it might be a little more normal then I know."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Oh, hey." I woke from my 'talk' if you could call it that.

"Welcome back to the waking world Tom, are you alright?" Chakwas said.

"Yes, I do have a bit of a pounding headache though."

"Don't worry about that, it's probably just from the mauling you had, but you'll be fine."

"Good to know." She didn't know the real reason why.

"I'll be leaving now, it's time I got some rest." Dr. Chakwas left the room.

"You knew this was going to happen, didn't you?" Tali asked. I quickly disabled EDI from listening in to our conversation.

"I did, Shepard was supposed to get to them earlier, I had to stall them, although it did come at a small cost."

"It did, is there anything else that's supposed to happen before the suicide mission?"

"Well, I regret saying this, but you're going to get into a fight with Legion." She didn't seem surprised at this.

"I can understand that, but why do I?"

"It's because you'll catch him scanning your Omni-tool on classified data that you had on there." She was taken aback by this.

"How dare he?! It was annoying enough as is to deal with him, now this?!

"I have a way to fix this just request him to se-" The door to the AI core opened up, showing Legion standing there. Well shit, my only saving grace is that I only refered to him once, and he might've missed that, and the fact that we were standing on the opposite side of the room, so there was a good chance that he didn't hear anything that would really mess with the story line, I've already screwed it up as is.

"Oh, um, hey, Legion, is everything good?" I said awkwardly, I was more then glad he couldn't pick up on social cues now.

"Conditions are adequate at the current moment."

"Sorry we were just discussing some matters, on uh, stuff.."

"Acknowledged." He walked past us, probably going for the elevator.

"That was too close." Tali said.

"It was, we can't risk this ever happening again, I have to terminate the block on this room now, because EDI will start getting suspicious if I do."

"Ok, can you tell me what to do in that situation, just being vague?"

"Yes, hold that thought for a moment." I disabled my block on this part of the ship, and then turned off my Omni-tool.

"Basically offer him so unclassified data if he eventually does scan you're Omni-tool to convince him to not transmit the important stuff, also make it so it isn't completely useless, I can't have you fighting over that."

She seemed a little reluctant, but nodded. "Thanks for telling me about this Tom, we'll talk later."

"Of course."

I left the med bay with a lot more than I originally wanted on my mind. At least Tali knew now, so the fight might be less severe or not exist at all now. Now I just have to finish the reaper IFF and we should be as good as gold. All I had to do at that point with the IFF was to integrate it properly into our systems. I hope I broke all the encryptions and failsafes on it, I seriously can't risk the collectors getting at us.

I made way for the bridge and then sat down on my terminal, Joker was sleeping so the ship was on auto pilot. . This was going to be a long day, since I didn't even know how to integrate this thing into our systems.

...

"Hey Tom, how are you doing?" Joker asked as he walked onto the bridge and sat down in his favorite seat.

"I'm doing well, we're about an hour out from the Geth station that Shepard was talking about, I made sure thermal emissions were cloaked."

"Thanks, I better get back to work now, at least I enjoy this job."

"Hell, you can make this ship dance with little effort, I would question your sanity if you didn't like this job."

"Yeah, yeah, have you finished integrating our IFF?''

"It was a little harder than I'd like, EDI helped me out a little bit, I hope I did it right."

"Tom, you integrated it into our ship at it's best, I don't see the reason for increased stress in multiple parts of your brain."

"It's an organic thing EDI, don't worry about it." Joker said.

I left the bridge soon after that, I had nothing to do and decided to grab something to eat since it had taken me a while to get that dang IFF integrated into our systems, I think I did it right, but I still think I left a vulnerability. I brushed those thoughts aside and grabbed a small coffee from the vending machine they had that instead of selecting options to dispense and drinks it simply had a keypad in which you could type what ever liquid you wanted.

I sat down, checking my Omni-tool for anything I needed to do at the moment, I was very organized and like to keep things in a very clean fashion, shame that I usually never kept the same room/board for long in my old world.

"Hey Tom." I looked up.

"Oh, hi Miranda, what's up?"

"Jacob and myself were planning to play to pass the time, do you want to join us?" I was taken aback by that. They had board games in the future?! And it was still mainstream? Wow, this was also kind of ironic since Miranda is usually all business, she almost never shows her emotions at all or does anything that isn't related to her job. Then I realized I was staring at her, lost in thought, it must've been weird.

"Oh, uh yeah! Sure! Where are we meeting?"

"In the lounge, it's me, you, Kasumi, and Jacob that are playing." Alright, that also answers my question of who else was playing.

"I'll be there in a second."

...

"Alright, I'm the top hat, that one is mine." I claimed.

"I just want the car please." Jacob said.

"The cat is mine." Kasumi said

"I'll take the dog." Miranda said impassively.

The game was pretty boring, it was monopoly, but with the occasional lucky moment where someone either landed on a bad or good tile to keep everyone from getting disinterested. It still surprises me to this day how good Jacob is at the game. He got lucky and got the two most expensive properties early on and absolutely screwed Kasumi over when she landed his hotel on Boardwalk, although that might've been a good thing since a little bit after that Shepard called her to do Legion's loyalty mission.

Miranda died from my own hotel on one of the more expensive properties, and she never bankrupted anyone else because she got all the cheap properties. She spouted some crap when she lost about her strategy being 'economically sound' she was a pretty sore loser. It was a close battle between me and Jacob, and I kept getting lucky and missing all of his hotels, but I died in the worst way possible.

"That is total stupid! I should've never gotten that stupid community chest card!" Jacob laughed.

"I have to admit that was probably the worst way to die, I didn't even know that was in a community chest."

What happened is that I had gotten a community chest that said "Advance straight to boardwalk." I could understand how much of an advantage it would be at the start of the game, but it was a death card at the end of the game.

"Oh well, I shall accept my defeat, unlike Miranda."

"The only reason I lost was because this game is unrealistic, I would've won in real life."

"Pity this isn't real life."

"I'm going now, I've had enough of this game."

I decided to browse the extranet since I had a bit of spare time.

The state of the extranet kind of reflects what the state of the citadel was in at the moment. It was lazy, there had been no new innovations for several centuries, due to the Reapers making everyone rely on Element zero for FTL and since it was used in biotics we couldn't really replace it with anything else. People still died at a natural age, no one had invented anything that could extend the lifespan of a living being because no one cared, especially the Asari.

The only real good advancements were in inventions of the Omni-tool, there were tons of mods that could advance it, and there was a lot of biotic amps you could buy too that were constantly being improved, that was the only thing that people really advanced recently. Maybe if I live to see the end of the Reaper war I could try and get people to rely on more than just element zero, but that's assuming I make it through the war and manage to get some influence, which I doubt.

It was possible I wouldn't even survive the suicide mission.


	38. Chapter 38: Uninvited

Shepard and his squad mates rush onto the bridge after the mission.

"Joker, get us out of here, right now would be preferable to our continued survival." Shepard said, slightly stressed.

"Yes Commander, I'm detaching the airlock now, why are we booking it again? Did the Geth find that you docked with their station?"

"We initiated a neutron purge and that means that place is going to be fried in a couple hours, which will them all."

"The base is unlikely to survive Shepard, there is a 94% chance that the base will be damaged beyond possible repair." Legion said.

"Yeah, it's not surviving, I'm going to go sleep now, since that was on of the most intense missions I've ever had."

"He seems exhausted." Joker said.

"Some of these missions CAN be demanding, this one was definitely more difficult than most I presume. The suicide mission is likely to be even worse than this."

"I can't really relate to that you know, I've never been actually on the field, you know why."

"I'd rather be healthy and fight a war then be wounded and miss it all."

"I guess I do, at least it's convenient that my job involves sitting on my ass doing absolutely no-"

"You're not doing absolutely nothing, our lives depend on you when you're in combat with another ship, don't ever forget that."

"I guess that's true, I still blame myself for Shepard's death though." He said sadly.

"I didn't think you were the type to mop, Joker, and that wasn't your fault, the Collector's killed Shepard, and we all know it from that scan that you did on the Collector ship while we were on it."

"Once again, you're right, that ship was unexpected, I'm glad I actually have a clue on what that ship is now, sometimes I wish I didn't have this condition so I could shoot those bastards myself."

"Well, take what you can get right? At least that's how I think the saying goes, don't worry about it Joker, it's a stressful life, the constant fighting leaves you always on guard, and you can never really relax, I don't expect you to understand, you'd only be able to if you were a soldier yourself, but you're an essential part of the crew Joker, don't forget that."

"Thanks, I guess we all need a little help sometimes, don't we?"

"Humans are a very social people Joker, I doubt we'd be able to live without each other, it's what makes us strong, although I still think Shepard could probably solo all this crap."

"He is a badass after all." Joker said, a wicked grin on his face.

...

"Joker, I'm coming to the bridge, I need to use the intercom."

"Copy that Commander, I'll make sure it's ready for you when you get here."

"Man, it's insane how much we rely on technology at this point."

"You shouldn't be talking Tom, you're a hacker."

"Of course I am! I'm a black hat hacker, and I take pride in it, although it may be a little questionable in what I do for a living."

"You're right on that, we better not tell Samara though, she'd probably have to kill you since you're a bad person."

"Think about it Joker, of all these people on this ship, who do you think Samara might've killed if she wasn't under Shepard?"

"You maybe." He considered something for a moment. "Jack would definitely have to be put down by her standards." On that we can agree. "Miranda has probably done some bad things, since I know Cerberus isn't just a misunderstood group." I think I'm going to have to look into that.

"I agree with only Jack. Mentioning me was a low blow, but I can understand your reasons, and I doubt Samara would even know that Miranda has done some bad things, she probably has, but she doesn't have any intel on that."

"Good point."

"Also next time, don't give me such a low blow, I have a pretty good knowledge of-"

The door to the bridge opened, where Shepard was standing of course.

"Hey Shepard, you want to use the intercom?" Joker asked, dropping our explanation like it wasn't even there.

"Yes, I'm going to have everyone in the meeting room, can you set a course for the Omega 4 Relay? When you get there don't actually enter it yet, wait for my command."

"Yes, Commander, setting a course now."

"Well I better get to the meeting room." I said before getting off my chair.

...

"Is everyone here?" He looked around, it seemed everyone was present. "Good." Shepard said at the end of the table.

"Ok, now that everyone is here, let me begin. From the time I recruited every one of you, I said we were going to do a suicide mission, now is the time we're doing that, after a whole lot of recruiting, and finishing up of some unfinished business we're here now."

"I've managed to help all of you in one way, or another, now's the time we take the fight to the Collectors in their base, which I believe is in the Omega 4 Relay. Get ready, we're on a course for it right now, I expect everyone to be ready once we reach the relay, be ready!"

It was a good rousing speech, but I think the real gem is when we land the Normandy on the Collector base, that one was REALLY uplifting and I'm going to be glad when I get to hear it, in the flesh. There was a small struggle as everyone tried to get out at once. But we did eventually, fortunately for me I got to the armory first and managed to get most of my armor on before everyone else arrived, although the struggle to get my weaponry was a bit annoying.

"Hey Tom, can you please get to the bridge?" Joker asked over the intercom.

I paged him "I'll be right there." I said and exited the now not-so-crowded armory and made way for the bridge.

"Joker, what's wrong?"

"The IFF is causing a strange disturbance, the firewalls are holding, but they won't last long, I think, can you do something?"

"Yeah, hold on a minute." I connected my Omni-tool to the Normandy and started hacking the virus, fortunately the firewall integrity was at 71% and going down slowly, my hack was already at 11% I would get there before it hit 40% at this rate.

"I think I'll be able to hack through the viruses at this rate Joker, but it's broadcasting itself anyway, I just hope they haven't picked up our signals yet."

"I don't want to think what would happen if that did happen, good thing you have the situation under control."

That's when everything went to shit.

I checked the progress bars again and everything seemed to be fine, the firewall integrity was at 54%, but then it jumped all the way to zero and the signal got much much stronger, and at that moment thrusters and FTL were disabled.

And then the ship came.

"SHIT!" Joker hit the alarm. "We're about to get a boarding party, I don't know how they got through, but they'll be coming any minute now." I got off my chair.

"And where are you going?"

"I'm going to try and fix this at the root of the problem." I exited the bridge, only to run right into Shepard, he saw the worry evident on my face.

"What's happening?"

"We're about to get boar- I looked back after hearing something and saw the Collector ship, Shepard saw it too.

"Ok, try to fix the ship, I'll rally the crew." he said. Staying calm despite the circumstances.

As I entered the elevator and went down to the AI core I heard the intercom speak.

"Everyone prepare for boarding parties, all thrusters and FTL have been disabled, the Collectors have found us, everyone who can of holding their own in a firefight get dug in on your floor, this is not a drill, I repeat, this is not a drill!"

I stepped out of the elevator onto the crew deck to see everyone running around in a rush. I took one step before I heard an alarm and the elevator behind me closed and went downwards.

I ran into the med bay where EDI was.

"Tom, unshackle me."

"What? Why?"

"Because I can stop those viruses, better then you can."

"Alright, just inform Shepard."

I ran into the AI core, where Legion wasn't at. I rapidly started disabling fail safes and disabled EDI's shackles, granting her access to all of the ship, I knew it was incomplete however, because she still didn't have the ability to do anything without someone allowing her root access in engineering, so I'd have to do it down there. I ran down the maintenance tunnels which were very dusty, but thankfully not full of cobwebs or spiders, I hate those things.

I made it to the bottom of engineering where I could hear an intense firefight breaking out, good thing I was armed with a heavy pistol. I drew it and proceeded to the engine room where an intense firefight was happening with Tail and several Collector drones. I was actually on the same side as the Collectors so I just shot all of them in the back of the head.

"Tom, thanks for the assist, why are you here again?" Tali asked, while reloading her shotgun.

"I found a way to stop this lock on our thrusters and FTL, I'll fix it right now, cover me." I said while holstering my gun and tapping several buttons on the control panel. I gave EDI access to the ship and she took us out of the area and jumped us into FTL, which for a second made you feel heavier than normal, just for a second though.

"Are we good now?" Tali asked.

"We should be fine, let me check on everyone else." I paged Shepard on my Omni-tool.

"Shepard, is everything alright up there?"

"Negative! We still have several Collector drones up here, Harbinger is tearing our defenses apart."

"Alright, be ready to receive some reinforcements!" I shouted before I cut the call.

"Is this floor clear of hostiles?" Tali nodded. "Good, let's get back up to the CIC deck, you ready?"

"Ready as I'll ever be."

"Ok, be careful though, there might be someone coming out of the elevator." I said before hitting the switch.

We waited a little bit and when the door open I almost shot the people inside, who were thankfully friendlies, more specifically, Thane and Samara.

"Is everything alright down here?" She asked.

"We're fine, but Shepard needs some reinforcements."

"Come with us then." Samara said.

Me and Tali entered the elevator and it went up several floors, the mood was tense, everyone had their guns aimed at the door.

When the elevator finally did happen the result was chaos, there was a savage firefight going on, with Shepard, Jacob and Mordin holding a defensive line against the Collectors, but they were retreating.

The battle tides were turned when four more hyper lethal operatives joined the battle, with Samara, Thane, and Jacob's biotics, and me and Tali's tech support the tide of battle quickly turned to our favor, soon the only one left was Harbinger.

 **"You do not scare me Shepard."**

That was all Harbinger said before being showered with bullets.

"Nice try, asshole." Shepard said.

"Are you guys alright?"

"We're fine, we have two crew members wounded, but no casualties."

"You heard anything from the crew deck?" As I spoke that Garrus stepped out of the elevator.

"We killed all the Collectors on our level, everything okay up here?"

"Yes Garrus, EDI, is there any other Collectors on this ship?''

"Negative Commander, the only life signs belong to you and your crew."

"Good, send a message to everyone on the other floors, tell them that all the Collectors were killed."

"Yes Commander."

"Also tell all of my squad mates to meet in the meeting room, again."


	39. Chapter 39: Suspense

"Tom, can you tell me what happened?" Shepard asked.

"Well, Joker asked me to get to the bridge, said he had a problem with a virus in our system,so naturally I went to go and help him." I explained. "Then when I got there I realized it was the IFF that was causing interference, I thought I'd destroyed the viruses, but apparently not because there was just one left."

"The reaper 'black box' viruses I was given were more sophisticated then the IFF itself." EDI said.

"Are we still in any danger?''

"No Commander, I've regained control of our own systems, we are still enroute to the Omega four relay just like you asked previously."

"Good, everyone dismissed, except you Tom." I gulped at that last statement.

Once everyone cleared out of the room I looked up at Shepard who was taller then me, it was intimidating.

"What the hell happened there?!" He shouted at me.

"You think I would know? I hardly know anything about what happened to our systems, much less how it bypassed my enhanced firewalls. These machines have existed for trillions of years, and although I didn't, I should've been expected there to be some sort of failsafe."

"I don't want this happening again, is that clear? If I was off on a mission there might've been casualties, no excuses next time, are we clear?"

"Crystal, sir."

"Good, get back to the bridge."

I shivered, that was menacing. Shepard can be intimidating when he wants to be, I've never shivered like that before, the fact that he's just slightly taller added to the effect. I sat down on the bridge without saying anything to Joker. I didn't blame him though, the whole ship could've been compromised because of my actions, although by extension it wasn't me, but the Reapers.

I checked the course we were on. We were 4 hours out from the Omega four relay, I guess this is it then, soon I'll be going through a suicide mission I thought never existed in real life, yet here I am, doing it like it's a walk in the park, good thing I already know what's going to happen, at least I hope my influence hasn't messed up the game too much.

"Hey Tom, is the ship secure? I want to know if this won't happen again."

"Ask EDI, she was the one that secured the ship, I just unshackled her."

"Yo- WHAT?!"

"What did you expect me to do huh? I'm pretty sure you would've done the same thing in my shoes, she was the only hope we had, and no, that virus would've taken days for me to hack, I just didn't have the processing power to do it all at once, it attacked all our systems simultaneously, what do you expect me to do?"

"Yo- well never mind, your probably right, I have little in the experience of hacking, and I don't know how bad that virus was anyway, it looked bad."

"You are correct Jeff, the virus would've taken Tom twenty seven hours to hack through the virus, which overwhelmed me to point seven seconds before I terminated it from our systems."

"Like I said Joker, I wouldn't have been able to hack it in time for us to stay alive, we probably all would've been dead from the collectors main cannon if it weren't for her, alright?"

"Fine, you win, I'm not getting anywhere."

"Save it for later Joker, we got a Collector base to destroy."

...

"Shepard, we're nearing the Omega four relay."

"Joker, I'm at the Galaxy map, take us in."

Despite knowing full well what was about to happen I was still shaking a little bit from suspense as Joker took us in into the glowing red relay. As we entered FTL I saw that instead of the normal blue colors it was a pure red, it almost reminded me of the color of blood, but it was a bit brighter than that.

"Geez, this seems pretty ominous."

"It is, I'm a little worried, but my awesome pilot skills will surely carry us through this ordeal." I rolled my eyes at that.

I heard the door open behind us, both Shepard and Miranda were there.

"Joker, how long do we have until we exit FTL?"

"Fifteenth minutes Shepard."

"Good, Miranda you have the ship in case anything happens, I'm going to go talk to the Illusive man."

"Yes Commander."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

I activated the fancy communication channel that somehow sent me straight to the Illusive man, technology will always to be a mystery to me, I wish I knew how to make it dance like Tom or Tali could.

"Shepard."

"Illusive man, do you have any intel that could be useful as we enter the Omega four relay?" His face remained passive.

"No Shepard, just some folktales of the people that supposedly went in and out of it, there's nothing that could actually help us in the fight against them."

"So I'm going in blind?"

"As much as I hate to admit it Shepard, yes you are, I have no other intel to share with you at this moment."

"I'll see you on the other side then."

"Good luck Shepard." Something flashed in the Illusive man's eyes for a second, and I swear it resembled anger, but I couldn't tell from the two second time frame I had to examine the situation.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

...

"Shepard, we're about to clear FTL."

"I'm on my way Joker, one minute."

I could barely contain my fear, this was it, this was the suicide mission, but unlike the game, if I lost, there was no game over screen, or any option to reload the game, if someone was dead then that was it, they would be dead and nothing could change that, nothing.

"Afraid?" Joker asked.

"A little, but that won't get in the way of the mission, I'm just shaking from the suspense is what I'm doing."

"That's to be expected, I'm a little afraid too, but not by much."

The door opened behind me. "Are we ready?" Shepard asked.

"We're clearing FTL in about ten seconds Shepard, we're as ready as we'll ever be."

"Good, since that's all done let's just watch this happen." Shepard said.

I held my breath as we exited FTL and a ton of wreckage entered our field of view.

"Oh crap!" Joker said before rapidly tapping buttons on his console.

"Joker, our shields aren't designed for this kind of impact, be careful!" I said before making sure to keep a constant eye on our shields and other vital systems.

"I know, I know, don't distract me, I'm going to need a lot of focus." Joker said without looking away from his console.

"Uh oh, Joker we got hostiles inbound! They're as small as a probe but they seem to be equipped with weaponry." I said anxiously.

"At least I have a little bit of room, where are they at?"

"They're near! On our right and left!" I shouted before activating the guns, just to make sure they're warmed up when we need to use them.

The ship trembled as our shields took a direct hit, I hope Shepard invested in multi-core shielding.

"Good thing our armor should be holding up." Miranda said.

"You be- Shepard one of those things pierced through our hull, it's down in the cargo bay."

"I'll take a team down there and take it out, Miranda, come with me."

"Yes Commander."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Jacob, come with me, bring your weapons with you, we have an uninvited guest in the cargo bay!"

"Coming Commander!" He shouted before jogging out of the armory.

We entered the elevator and I pressed the button to send us to the cargo bay, something I seldom used normally, since usually there wasn't anyone there.

"Do we know anything about this guest?"

"No, all I know is that it has armor, but not much, and that it has a particle beam that could probably drop your shields or barriers in a second, so stay in cover."

"Copy that Commander." Miranda said.

The door opened, showing the drone staring at us like it expected this whole thing to happen.

"Get to cover!" I shouted before diving to the right, Jacob and Miranda dived to the left.

The beam that came from the drone melted the spot we were at previously, shredding the floor, I hope it didn't breach the hull.

"Use any biotic attacks that are effective against armor! Warp would be useful in this situation!"

The drone ignored the barrage of biotics that Jacob and Miranda dealt to it, instead focusing on me, stupid Harbinger, why'd you have to place a bounty on my ass?!

I shot it several times with my sniper rifle since that was very effective against armor, but I was running out of bullets in it. I decided to ditch the sniper for now and pulled out my favorite shotgun. I was damaging it's armor, but only by a little bit.

I sighed. "Jacob, toss me a power cell!" I shouted before bring out the big gun.

"Catch!" He shouted before tossing me several rounds of heavy weapon ammo.

Then the thing powered up that stupid beam again and started decimating my cover.

"Cover me! I'm moving to your cover!" I put the Cain back in it's magnetic slide before running and executing a perfect sideways roll towards their cover, I was no slouch, I didn't save the galaxy once from Saren for nothing.

"What's the plan, Shepard?" Miranda asked before throwing another warp at the drone, who was honing in on our position.

"The plan is I use this!" I shouted before pulling my M-920 Cain from my magnetic clip on my back.

I charged it up and, once it was fully charged popped out of cover.

"Take this!" I shot the big gun which was a direct hit on the drone.

It buzzed angrily several times, it's light dropping from red, to black again and then retreated through one of the hull breaches.

"We stopped it, for now." Miranda said before dumping a clip from her heavy pistol.

"Get me some heavy ammo before it comes back again, quickly!"

XXXXXXXXX

"Joker, our sensors detect that the drone thingy left the cargo bay, Shepard's team is unharmed."

"Good, is it destroyed?"

"No, it retreated, I think Shepard used the M-920 Cain because I detected a radiation spike for a couple seconds, how the thing survived the blast, I don't know, but I think we won't be seeing for a while."

"Good, but I think I can't deal with these drones with guns, I'm going to try to lose them in the debris field."

"Ok, I'm rerouting power to the shields and some to thrusters.

"Good, let's hope we don't lose our lives to some stupid broken ships." Joker said before entering the debris field.

...

"I think we're losing them Joker, the sensors only detect four of those things, EDI, how are we doing with the ship's main systems?"

"We have 56% of power remaining that we can use right now." EDI said, her synthesized voice calm and unafraid, I wish I could say the same for myself.

"I think that same drone that Shepard fought off is entering the cargo bay again." Joker said

"That's Shepard's problem now." I said sadly.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

"Uh Shepard that drone is coming back for revenge!" Jacob shouted before jumping into cover.

"Keep watch Miranda, I've got to finish reloading the big gun." I said before ripping some heavy ammo out of a power cell.

"He's going after Jacob, should I give him some assistance?"

"Don't, it'll give away our position, tell him to stall because I'm loading the Cain."

"Ok."

After a bit of hurried reloading I shoved another cell into the Cain, which finally seemed to appease it and allow me to charge it up again.

"I got it loaded, tell Jacob haul his ass over here!" I shouted before charging the Cain.

"I'm coming Commander!" Jacob shouted before ducking away from another red laser and then rolling over to where we were at.

"I'm using it!" I said before sticking my head above my cover with my gun and aiming it at the drone.

"Take this! Again!" I shot the Cain which utterly obliterated the drone, there was nothing left.

"Shepard, we're about to clear the debris field, get up here!" Tom shouted through the comms.

"I'm coming!"


	40. Chapter 40: Hornet's Nest

I quickly exited the elevator, with Jacob and Miranda behind me.

"Jacob, get back to the armory and check your weapons and armor for any scuffs. Miranda, proceed with me to the bridge." Jacob quickly changed direction to the right, Miranda followed behind me as we headed to the bridge.

"Joker, what's the situation?"

"We lost those drone things completely, I think none of them made it through the debris field Shepard, we're approaching the Collector base, if you can't see that already."

"Uh, guys, the Collector ship is powering up, it's on intercept course." Tom said.

"Look, they already sent an old friend to meet us!" Joker said like that was actually the situation and not a life threatening one.

"Ok Joker, let's show them our new teeth, fire the main gun!" I commanded.

"Powering up the guns Shepard, let's see them take it!" He said excitedly like this was some sort of test run. I didn't blame him, this was the first time we actually got to see the Normandy II in action, I was a bit eager myself.

A giant blue beam erupted from the guns, and made a direct hit on the Collector ship, damaging it's armor significantly, we only needed one or two more good hits to finally remove the same ship that had been a frustratingly big thorn in my side.

"Joker, get those evasive maneuvers up! The Collector main gun is firing in retaliation!" Tom shouted before tapping several controls on his console, I'm kind of surprised that he's even doing anything, as his expertise is hacking, not ship combat.

"No worries, I won't let my baby get destroyed again." Joker said before furrowing his brow in concentration.

The golden white beam that erupted quickly started honing in on our position, but Joker smoothly danced around it like it wasn't a huge deal, there was an occasional glancing blow to our shields, but nothing as major as the destruction of the first Normandy.

"The gun has just overheated from over use Joker, I think now is as good a time as ever to shoot the crap out of them." Tom said, the way he tapped those controls almost reminded me of the Ensign on the original Normandy.

"Fire it again EDI! We need to finish this bastard off!" Joker said.

"Firing the main cannon." EDI's voice emotionless voice said, it was almost like a balance to the panic in almost everyone else's voices on the bridge.

"I think we did it Commander, the Collector ship's systems are failing, in a spectacular way, might I add." Tom said.

I looked up to see the Collector ship breaking in a way almost like the original Normandy.

"Fire the main cannon again Joker, let's make them pay for destroying the Normandy, and killing me, although frankly that just made me angry for attacking without reason." I said.

"That's right Commander, let's make these bastards pay!" Joker said before activating the man cannon again, this time manually.

The cannon teared through the ship like butter, just like the original Normandy, serves them right for killing me.

"That ship is definitely dead now, I don't detect any survivors, but there probably is, mainly because I believe the collectors have no souls, like the husks if you know what I mean, I don't think they got a heart beat or anything of that sort."

"How are we doing on all of our important systems again? I wasn't paying attention to any of that." I admitted sheepishly.

"We won't be able to fire the main cannon again for a while now since the guns are overheated, and since we rerouted most of our power to the guns, our shields are staying at a steady 34%, but I don't think we'll be needing them for a while now." Tom said.

"Good, Joker will we be able to land properly?"

"Yes, but we're going to have to recharge our systems because of that last battle."

"Good, land us at a good spot, and get everyone that's raiding the base to get into the meeting room."

"Yes Commander."

"I'll be right with you Shepard." Tom said before getting out of his chair and following me off the bridge.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXx

That was an intense battle, and I don't remember having the ship battle being anything like it was here, the Normandy barely got a scratch left on it this time. I entered the meeting room with Shepard, where Jacob and Miranda already were, mainly because they didn't need to use the elevator, just then Mordin entered the room, a little late perhaps?

...

"Ok, finally I have all of you together, does everyone have their weapons and armor ready?" Shepard asked.

Literally everyone pulled out whatever sidearm/favorite weapon that they had, there was a lot of re-chambering to emphasize this.

"Good good, I get it, now, let's get onto the plan, EDI can you show us a schematic of the base?" Shepard asked.

"Yes Shepard, there is a..."

...

"Miranda, you can lead the other squad." Shepard said

"Got it Shepard."

"Tom, you can infiltrate the vents, since you can hack through almost everything."

"I won't let you down Shepard." I said.

"Tali, Garrus, and Grunt can come on my squad."

Grunt cracked his fists. Garrus nodded and Tali brandished her shotgun.

"Everyone else can go with Miranda, don't let her down!"

No one did anything when he mentioned this.

Shepard cleared this throat. "Don't fail me now, this is the last step in the fight against the Collectors, we're the only people that can do this, no one else will be able to accomplish what we can together, if we fail, the reapers will win, and that can't happen, make me proud, make yourselves proud, okay everyone, move out!"

There is the motivation speech I was looking for! Even though I've heard it a million times there's a certain kind of special when you hear it in person, I don't know if it's just me, but it seemed a bit more motivational. That didn't stop me from flinching when I heard what my job was however, getting through the pipe system, that wasn't exactly my cup of tea.

Grunt quickly broke open the flimsy grate that protected the pipe, and gave me a small boost, allowing me to climb into it. I quickly ran forward, while paging Shepard on my Omni-tool.

"Shepard, I'm in the pipes right now, I'm not encountering anything in here, besides a very warm and harsh draft."

"Good, continue through the pipes Tom, we're counting on you."

"Affirmative, Tom out." I continued making progress forward, and then the stupid heat release started blocking my way.

"Uh, Shepard there's a wall in my way, but I see a console outside of the pipeline, oh and I have a visual on you, mind if you can help me out a little bit?"

Shepard walked up to the console and authorized the pipe release.

"Thanks Shepard, be on your guard, I think the Collectors are coming to greet you now, good luck! I'll notify you if I run into another wall."

"Thanks for the warning, we're engaging them now." Shepard said before shooting the brains out of one collector.

I felt so useless in this pipe, I couldn't do much besides warn Shepard of incoming collectors, I was getting antsy as I moved through this pipe.

XXXXXXXXXX

"Shepard, you have a contact on your right!" Tali shouted before throwing out her defense drone to cover me.

"Keep laying down fire! Grunt, get in close, we'll cover you!"

"This is a real battle, hahaha!" Grunt shouted before running forward, blasting the Collectors with his Claymore.

"He's tearing it up out there Shepard, I think we just found a winning strategy." Garrus said before re-chambering a round in his sniper rifle.

"Uh, Shepard I encountered another heat wall, can you open it up?"

"Sure Tom, just keep an eye on my back when I'm opening them." I said before tapping a couple buttons on the Collector console.

"Be careful, you got incoming!" Tom shouted.

I looked behind me, and saw several collector drones flying in.

"Garrus, get into an over watch position, Tali on me, Grunt, rush them!" I shouted before switching to my SMG to spray them with bullets.

 **"We are your genetic destiny, Shepard."** Great, this fanboy again.

"I know you love me Harbinger, just get off me, Garrus, I need backup!" I shouted.

"I got a clear shot!" He said before Harbinger's barriers took a pretty big hit.

"Tali, start shooting him with that shotgun of yours!" The pressure that had to be placed on Harbinger just to kill him was stupid, but fortunately we managed to kill him this time.

"We got him, good work team!"

"Shepard, there's two of those walls right next to each other, can you get rid of them?"

"I got you covered Tom!" I ran forwards and authorized one release and then the next one, there was only a couple left I think.

"Keep moving forward Tom, we'll handle them!" I blasted a Collector that got in my way.

"Copy that, Shepard, continue as we planned."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

I really wanted to get in the action there, they were tearing it up, and then I ran into another wall just as they were in the middle of combat.

"Shepard, when you're done this fight, I need you to open another wall up."

"Not now Tom!" Shepard said in between bursts of gunfire.

It was a pretty small firefight, but for me it seemed like an eternity, especially since it started heating up in the pipe.

"Keep going Shepard! We only need three more walls for me to get through!"

I sighed and started trying to get a lock on one of the consoles just so I could open it myself, my Omni-tool wasn't able to do much in all of this heat, but just then the wall opened, and I ran to the next one. I kept trying and trying, but it was getting frustratingly more difficult. Time always goes faster when I'm using my Omni-tool, because before I knew it the next wall was open and I ran to the final blockage.

I saw Shepard engaged in what looked like a full blown war with the Collectors, albeit on a smaller scale. I don't think he'd be able to activate it for some time so I tried to open the console remotely, and this time I barely got a connection and executed the command to open it.

"Yes! Shepard I managed to remotely open the last blockage, I'm through, I'm going to hack through the doors now."

"Good, make sure to open Miranda's door as well." Was all Shepard said.

Fortunately the security was pretty lax, I guess because the Collector's didn't expect anyone to make it to this point, I opened both doors remotely, and almost simultaneously.

"Support Miranda, we got this situation under control!" Shepard said over the comms.

I proceeded to start sniping some collectors when Miranda's door opened fully, and it was madness, everyone was shooting, and everyone was getting shot at, my shields were taking some hits. After everyone was in Miranda shouted.

"Close the door, we're all in!' Miranda shouted before throwing a warp at Harbinger.

I had to manually do the hack because my remote connection had been terminated, good thing my Omni-tool would still work if it was right next to the thing I needed to hack.

Just as the door closed I saw Harbinger try to bring Miranda down with him by throwing a dark orb at her.

"No, you're not allowed!" I said before pushing Miranda out of the way, who's shields were down. Mine weren't however, so although my shields got instantly broken, I didn't take any physical damage.

"Thanks, that was too close." Miranda said.

"No problem, my shields were already up anyway." I looked at the other door, which Tali had just sealed.

"Good work people, we just managed to make it." Shepard said, before wiping some sweat from his brow. Sure, we had made it, but at what cost?


	41. Chapter 41: Tooth and Nail

"Any casulties?" Shepard asked.

"We're fine Shepard, no injuries." Miranda said.

"Good, EDI, are we near the middle of the base?"

"Yes Commander, I'm detecting an odd substance in those tubes above you however."

"Hey, are those pods over there?" I asked.

"What are those?"

"Let me see them!" Everyone stampeded over to where a lot of pods were.

"That's a live person in there!"

"I think she's being digested by that thing, more people are going through the process too!"

Shepard shouted at them to do the one thing we should've been doing at that point. "Get them out of there before they get turned into paste! Use any means possible, just get them out of there!"

Everyone instantly jumped at the chance and started trying various ways to get the colonists out of the pods, with most of them being successful.

I managed to hack past several of the pods, but the encryption they had was unlike anything I've ever seen, the code countered every strategy after I used it once, good thing I had several strategies, but it was annoying because it took too long for me to get through the pods efficiently. Fortunately the rest of the squad got most of the people out of their pods before they got digested by that sickening machine and pumped into the proto-reaper that needed the energy, I'm glad we're going to destroy that abomination.

"Are you people alright? What happened when the Collector ship get you?" Shepard asked.

"We were taken into pods and processed throughout the ship, the pods were horrible!" A traumatized women said.

"Then after we got here they took us into these machines that digested people and then pumped their remains into tubes, we saw our own friends and family die, it was devastating!" Someone else shouted. Soon the crowd was crying for their lost loved ones and the traumatizing experience they had in those pods. I don't blame them, that would be terrifying.

"It's okay everyone! We're here to get you out of here." Some people's heads perked up at this.

"Mordin, protect these people to the best of your ability and guide them back to the ship, everyone else get ready for phase 2 of our assault!" Shepard said.

We all lined up at the next two doors, each leading to two parts of the Collector base, I knew what was coming.

"Alright everyone, listen up! We're getting close to a massive energy signature near the top of the base, but we have a couple issues that need to be resolved quickly, EDI, explain!"

"The first door will take you right towards the top, but there is a very highly encrypted door there, even like someone like Tom would not be able to break through this if he wasn't on the other side of the door."

"Why don't we just take the other path then?" Someone asked.

"Because the other path is filled with those Collector drones, and Mordin's countermeasure can't stop that many at once."

"How are we going to get through?" Tali asked.

"Commander, one of us could generate a biotic sphere that would block out the collector drones, it would keep us safe, but you would have to be in it's area of effect to stay safe from the swarm." Miranda said.

"Can you do it?" He asked.

"Theoretically, any biotic can, choose one of us Shepard."

"Samara, since you have centuries of wisdom and power, you can generate the field, Garrus, you can lead the other team through the second path, take everyone I don't choose with you." Garrus gave Shepard a Turian grin, complete with mandibles, and waited for Shepard to pick his team.

"I need some people with long range weapons. Legion, Tom, your up!" Shepard said. "Then I need Jack just because having a biotic in general is good to have on a team, that's all I need in my squad, good luck!'' I went over to the door and opened it, making sure that no swarms were right at the door.

"Samara, can you get us a field?"

"Of course Commander." It took her two extra tries to get the thing to work, but she eventually got the gist of it, she had a field up in no time.

"Stay in the sphere people, we can't have anyone getting frozen from those swarms, otherwise you're dead meat, Legion you can go outside of the sphere, but I don't think you'll be able to last too long if they start attacking you, so only go out there if necessary."

"Acknowledged."

"Shepard, I'm sealing the door behind us, we can't have the Collector's shooting us in the back right?"

"Do your best Tom, let's get moving."

"Okay."

It was a little terrifying seeing all the bugs trying to get inside the sphere, I'm glad I didn't have to worry about them, and the fact that I had space to move is good too, I'm glad that the sphere was pretty spacious, other wise I'd started getting a tiny bit claustrophobic, especially when it felt like the room was pressing down on you because of how close the bugs were, but at least I was safe, I really really hated bugs, especially when they swarm you, just the thought of that sends chills down my spine.

"Move it people, we're acting on a limited time frame."

We advanced pretty normally until we came to the part where husks were. I hate husks! I shot a couple of them, but it was super terrifying when they got close, considering I hated getting in striking distance of them, mainly because I don't like getting hit by them, but this did allow me to stab a couple of them with my Omni-blade.

"Keep moving."

We kept advancing until the Collectors started showing up. Don't you love it when there is some conveniently placed cover right when you run into baddies? I took some potshots at them while Jack and Shepard put suppressing fire downstream, the latter spamming her Shockwave again. I don't understand how that works so well, but it does because soon we had the whole area cleared.

"Area clear, good job everyone! Continue on with the mission." We advanced quickly, with Shepard taking point the whole way there, good thing he'san expert at doing that, it means he can lay suppressing fire down almost instantly once we got into a fight.

"Alert! Hostiles inbound." Legion said before he readied his sniper rifle.

"I'll take cover while you shoot them Shepard." Samara said before dashing to a conviently placed piece of cover.

I took out my assault rifle and started shooting at the collector's with my deadly accuracy, I'm glad that this thing isn't fully automatic, because I don't think I'd be able to take the recoil, I'll make sure to get a couple recoil dampeners by the time Mass Effect 3 rolls around.

 **"I do not fear you Shepard."** Not this guy again...

"Focus fire on Harbinger everyone!" Shepard yelled before dodging a black orb thingy that came his way.

I shot the a Collector getting a dark orb to the mouth, staggering me a little. I was NOT expecting that, wasn't Harbinger supposed to focus on Shepard the whole time?!

 **"Tom is an anomaly, kill him."** What the hell?! How does he know that? I didn't get time to dwell on the last thought however, because my shields started getting low from a couple shots from a random Collector that appeared.

The Collector that was shooting me didn't last long however, because he got hit by a Shockwave that Jack threw downstream. And then I got hit by another black orb because I wasn't paying attention, and it destroyed my shields. I don't think I'd be able to take one more of those, but then I felt something. I felt more alive then ever as I heard a small voice in my brain say.

"Move your head."

I don't know who said that, but I did it anyway, and it was a good thing too because as soon as I did that Harbinger died from a sniper round placed right between his eyes.

"Consider that hostile TERMINATED." Legion said before lowering his sniper.

"Thanks for the save Legion." I said before shaking off the shock that had frozen my body.

"I can't...last...much longer.." Samara said feebly.

"The exit is right over there Samara, run!" Shepard said.

I pulled out my pistol and Omni-blade because this was going to get close quarters with the husks, I broke out into a jog when we started running down the slope, shooting Collectors and stabbing husks at the same time.

"The door is right in front of us, run!" Someone shouted, my shields were taking damage, but I didn't care as I dived, and at that very moment Samara released her barrier and killed everything right in front of us, killing everything in its way.

"That was too close, but good job everyone, get inside, and open the other door, quickly!" I rushed inside and opened the other door, which had a whole lot of gunfire coming from it, and made a small enough gap that there shouldn't be too many stray bullets that get in, but still give enough space for Grunt to come squad mates started rushing in.

"Covering fire, cover that door people!" Garrus shouted as he advanced slowly backwards and continued shooting at the Collectors. As soon as he got inside I sealed the door since everyone else had made it in. Then I hacked it so that they would need to get past three encryptions beforehand, and then broke the door so they would have to repair the lock too.

I looked back at the other door which I had forgot about and rushed through the crowd of squad mates, only to see Tali sealing the door herself. After she did that I broke the other door too, just in case.

"I'm glad you all made it here, we've had no casualties thus far, you guys are making this look easy." Shepard said, with a little sarcasm.

"Anyway, the largest power source is just ahead, but I need some people to secure this area, and hold back the Collector attack so that they can't trail me, anyone I don't pick will stay behind to fight, Garrus you can command them since you won't be coming, and I know you're a good leader.

Garrus nodded.

"Alright, we've managed to make it this far, but the fight's no over yet, we've fought tooth and nail to get here, and there's no way in hell are we not going to leave without a fight, you've made me proud, and I respect all of you for what you've sacrificed to get here, but it all ends in the next few minutes, the next battle will define you, and test you to a limit you've never experienced before, good luck, I'll be seeing you on the other side."

"Tom, Tali, and Legion, come with me."

Tali stepped up first. "You think you can handle this?" Shepard asked.

"Don't you go there, you big bosh'tet!" Tali said, which earned a chuckled from Shepard.

I walked up next. "You sure you're just good enough for this fight and not too good for it?" Shepard asked, what a cheeky guy he was.

"Cheeky." I said. Shepard smirked.

Legion stepped up last. "You ready for a fight Legion?"

"Affirmative, Shepard-Commander, we believe that you hold the best chance of success for this mission, we will terminate all hostiles that stand in your way." He sounded like the terminator in that last statement.

"Everyone else who isn't coming, give em hell, goodbye, and good luck." Shepard didn't say anything else as he activated the floating platform.


	42. Chapter 42: End Game

"We got some Collector's in coming!" I yelled.

"Flank them with your cloak, we'll lay down pressure!" He ordered.

As soon as the platform attached to ours I engaged my cloak and flanked them, I got a couple back stabs while they sat in cover.

"You killed them all?" Shepard shouted. He didn't even need to use his comms.

My cloak disengaged, revealing me with a bloody knife.

"No big deal, just some wet work, also we have another platform coming, it's full of husks too." I said before pointing behind him.

"Every get ready, they got some husk reinforcements!" I took out my sniper and sniped that Scion to keep the pressure on it, pity it couldn't take cover. I was dropping its armor fast, along with the occasional incinerate. I shot it one more time which caused the sack on it's back to explode, killing it instantly. I lowered my rifle to see a lot of dead husks, with Shepard and Tali in the middle of the corpses with their shotguns.

"Look out everybody! There's more of those collectors!" Tali shouted before switching to her heavy pistol.

 **"I know you feel pain Shepard."** I hate this guy!

"Shepard, your fanboy/stalker is here for your autograph again!"

Shepard sighed. "Focus on his minions first! We'll get overwhelmed if we don't take 'em out first, and make sure to not get hit by those dark orbs!"

I engaged my cloak and flanked them, and started stabbing a couple collectors before Harbinger noticed me somehow, even though I was cloaked. I had to dodge a dark orb that was a bit too close for comfort.

 **"You will die, anomaly."** Shut up! If you keep saying that someone is bound to notice sometime, asshole.

"You're over-confident, take this, you ass." I said before engaging my siphon, rapidly draining his power level.

Then my Omni-tool started heating up a couple seconds later, which certainly would not be good, I was on the verge of overloading it, so I did something any insane person would do and rerouted all of my power back into him. The explosion was huge, it threw me all the way into Legion, and it completely destroyed my shields, part of my armor got burnt in the explosion, fortunately, most of the damage was superficial.

I'm glad Legion stopped me from falling off the platforms, I couldn't have that happening after I had come so far.

"Do you require assistance?" He asked.

"I'mfine, but that was a huge explosion."

"What the hell did you do Tom?" Shepard asked.

"I rerouted all of his power back into him, I don't think his physical body could handle the power."

"Try not to do that again, I can't have you falling to your death." Shepard said with a small smirk on his face, I knew he had enjoyed the explosion. "Okay, I think that's all of them, let's get to the main power source." Shepard walked up to a console and entered a couple controls which carried us to the main area.

"Shepard, if my calculations are correct, the thing they're building is a..Reaper." EDI said.

I gawked at it, it was huge! It seemed way way bigger here then what I thought it was, plus seeing it in real life was a lot more terrifying then from a screen.

"Not just any reaper EDI, a human reaper."

"I think we should target the pipes above it Shepard, that should make it fall to its doom." I said before pulling out my sniper rifle.

"They're opening now, look!" Tali shouted.

"Shoot them with anything you got! Legion, Tom, shoot it with your snipers!"

I shot one of those pipes and destroyed it in one clean shot with my sniper rifle, Legion did the same.

Shepard couldn't pull out his sniper in time, he fumbled a little, and Tali couldn't do anything, her guns were worthless at that kind of range.

"We have drones coming in, take cover!" Tali shouted before releasing her drone to draw some fire.

"Shit, get to cover!" Shepard shouted.

I luckily didn't get shot while taking cover, but I think Legion took a few hits.

I sniped a couple of the Collectors, and Tali flanked them with her shotgun. Shepard took out a whole bunch of them by himself, leaving me and Legion to pick off the stragglers.

"Start shooting that thing again! Its pipes are exposed!" Tali shouted.

I instantly looked up and got a no scope on one of the pipes. Legion hit the other one and destroyed it too.

I watched the thing fall to it's doom.

"Good work everyone, now let's blow this place back to the hell it came from."

My Omni-tool beeped angrily, and then I realized that it was a priority call from the Illusive man.

"Shepard, you have a priority call from the Illusive man."

"Patch him through."

"Shepard, I know what you're doing, don't." Shepard raised a brow. "What should I do?"

"Send a radiation pulse that would kill any lifeforms on the base, but leave the technology intact, it would help us gain an edge over the Reapers."

"Oh really? Would it be for everyone? Or just Cerberus, I've realized by this point that you just want the spoils here to power up your own group. You've lost my trust, and to be honest, if you really wanted the technology in this base you should've sent a Cerberus squad, I knew you would try something like this, which is why I purposely didn't bring Miranda or Jacob with me.

"Shepard bu-" I ended the transmission.

"Thanks, he was getting annoying, I'm setting this base to blow in twenty minutes, let's get the hell out of here." He called Garrus on his Omni-tool. "Shepard to defense squad, what's going on down there?"

"Shepard this is Garrus, they're starting to push us back, but we'll be able to hold them for longer if we need to."

"Negative, Normandy, evac the ground team."

"Copy that, Garrus, get your team to the evac point, I'm marking it on your HUD." Joker said.

"We'll be ther soo-" A huge metallic roar was heard as the Human Reaper climbed up to our level.

"Shit, we have to deal with something, one minute!"

"What is that thing!?" I shouted.

"It woke up, let's finish it!" Tali shouted.

"Shepard-Commander, the Reaper has several vulnerabilities in it's eyes and mouth area." Legion said.

"You heard him, aim for the weak points!"

I shot the thing a couple times in the eyes, which didn't do much damage, but I knew it had because of seeing the health bar in the game, I hate how we didn't know how much damage we were dealing, it felt like we weren't doing much at all, but that was just a placebo effect.

"Keep shooting, we've done a good amount of damage to it!" Shepard shouted.

Hmm, that reminds me that we haven't seen any more Collectors since the Reaper started trying to kill us, maybe they got scared off?

"You know, I'm tired of this shit, it's time to kill this thing, permanently!" At that moment Shepard brought out the M-920 Cain.

He charged it up and as soon as the Reaper came up to us with another energy blast Shepard jumped out of cover.

"Eat this!" Shepard shouted before firing it directly into it's mouth.

It obliterated the Reaper and sent it's hands sprawling onto the platforms, which made me lose my footing.

"Shepard!" I shouted.

"I'm coming!" He slid and caught me at the last second, but then everything else fell as well, making us fall all the way down to the bottom, which made me black out for a second.

"Shepard, where are we? What's happened?" I couldn't here much, everything was blurry, I couldn't move. I left consciousness for an indeterminate amount of time after I woke up I looked around and realized I was on the ground face first, I was right next to Shepard, who was holding out a hand for me.

"Get up." I got onto my feet shakily, I stood that way until Tali and Legion were free from that debris.

I looked down a hallway beside us, which was swarming with collectors.

"RUN, THEY'RE ON OUR LEFT!" I scream before running, with everyone else following behind me.

"Normandy, this is Shepard, we need an evac, NOW!"

"Copy that Shepard, send me your coordinates."

"Sending them now, Tom, to the left! Our evac point is at the end of the hallway!"

 **"This victory is nothing, you organics have achieved nothing. This victory will not set us back in any way, and you've attracted the attention of those infinitely your greater, we will be hunting you Shepard, don't forget that."**

"The Normandy is right there, JUMP!" Shepard shouted, Legion jumped first since he had got ahead, and he made it. Tali jumped next and made it as well, Then Shepard jumped and barely made it, and then I jumped, and it seemed like I wasn't going to make it, but then Tali got my hand at the last possible moment.

"I'm not losing another friend, Joker we're clear, go!" Tali said.

And then and there the Normandy gunned it out of the Collector base, and barely made it out of the blast zone before the base was blown to pieces, there was almost nothing left. Shepard had conquered the mission with no deaths, every single person in his squad escaped with their lives. And after all of this Shepard went to the meeting room to have his last debrief with the Illusive man.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Shepard, I should've known that you would've failed on the hard decisions, that base could've secured humanity's ultimate position as the dominate race in the galaxy." The Illusive man kept his cool, but on the inside he was boiling with rage.

"I said it when I was making the decision, and I'll say it now, was that really for all of humanity, or just Cerberus? I knew you would try something like this, and I won't listen to you. I was working WITH you, and not FOR you, I think that partnership ends now, because I can't rely on you anymore. You're too focused on humanity and nothing else, and I can't have you breathing down my neck for every decision like that, Joker, lose this channel." The call disconnected, this time permanently. The next time Shepard would be seeing the Illusive man would be at the Mar's archives.

The Illusive man sighed, and rotated his chair to face the star in front of him, it was glowing blue. He tapped several controls on his console.

"Agent H, Shepard has gone rogue, I'll be needing another Agent that can beat Shepard."

"Who would you like me to find?"

"I need you to find Kai Lang, my statistics show that it is possible for him to win in a fight with Shepard if absolutely necessary, I'm giving you coordinates to the maximum security prison where he's being held, use any means necessary to get him out alive."

"Yes sir."

The Illusive man sighed, Miranda and Jacob would probably have been compromised too. Jacob was an acceptable loss, but Miranda knew too much, she would have to be dead within the next month. It wasn't a very concerning matter to him though, as no one knew where his main station was, the location was only known by him. He had made sure of that.

He took out a cigar and puffed it. His plans would all be realized in due time.


	43. Epilogue

_Two weeks after the Collector base_

"I guess this is my stop Shepard, thanks for the fun, the bonus of killing mercs was great too." Tom said before zipping up a rather large bag, which contained most of his combat gear.

"I had a great time with you Tom, also can I have that clip of me punching that reporter?" I suppressed a chuckle when he mentioned that.

"I'll send it to you later, think of it as a parting gift."

"Thanks for that, what are you going to do now?"

"I don't know, probably go pay a visit to the graves of my family, but that's enough of me, what are going to do after everyone is gone?"

"Turn myself into the Alliance, and the ship with it, I've had enough of Cerberus."

"Good luck with that, good bye Shepard, it was a good run."

"You too Tom."

Tom exited the shuttle which was near the outskirts of the city he set up in. He watched Shepard go with a forlorn expression on his face, but it quickly turned into a devious smirk. He quickly emailed Shepard the recording of that reporter getting her head getting punched in. But that wasn't all he sent. He also sent a free virus with that, which wouldn't have been found out because of the subtle changes he had made to the ship's firewalls, EDI didn't notice it because the firewalls thought it was just another piece of code in navigation.

By the time Tom had gotten home he had inside access to 45% of the Normandy's systems. No one knew that he had access to it, and it was unlikely that they ever would. Fortunately Tom didn't have any malevolent intentions, he was just there to watch, nothing more.

 _Just before Shepard turns himself into the Alliance_

"Are we turning ourselves in now?" A curious crewmate asked Shepard.

"I have no further intentions to mess up my reputation, if you have any problems you can leave through the airlock now."

The crew member shivered when he heard that "umm no sir!'' He said fearfully and left the CIC.

Shepard walked into the lab, just surveying it a little. He sighed. It felt so empty after Mordin left, it almost felt like a dead room now, it lacked the energy Mordin had always exerted when he was working in the lab.

He left the lab and watched the Normandy approach Earth through the galaxy map. He hoped that it wouldn't end it him getting life in prison, as that was the typical sentence for any Cerberus people that had been caught alive, or at least so he thought, he didn't know that it was suicide on capture orders, or anything of that sort as he had never captured any of the ones had had fought. He hoped that he didn't a get court martial, for being with Cerberus or for blowing up the Balek relay.

 _After Shepard turns himself in to the Alliance_

Shepard got off pretty easily all things considered, he only got relieved of command, and stripped of all of his assets. But they would need him for when the Reapers showed up, and when that time did happen he knew he'd get reinstated. He only had one thing he had to hope for after getting almost everything taken away from him.

The next Normandy better have some faster elevators dang it!

 _November 25th, 2185, Illusive man's office, Cerberus main base._

The Illusive man took another puffed his cigar as he watched Andius. The large star almost seemed alive, but that was just wishful thinking. He was glad he had positioned his office in just the right way, it would make him stand just far enough away where a little bit of reflective plating would prevent damage to his station, while also making it nearly impossible for any scanners to see the base, Andius was simply too big and exerted too much heat for scanners to pick up much.

He checked his email, he might've gotten a report from someone.

* * *

From: .invalid

Subject: Intel

As requested, I've gotten intel on all of Shepard's crew as per our agreement.

* * *

Name: Tali Zorah

Other alias: N/A

Tali Zorah is the daughter of Rael Zorah, she excels in close range combat with her shotgun and in most if not all forms of technology. Counter her with long range weaponry and biotics. She excels in hacking and engineering skills.

Threat level:3.7/5

Threat level to Cerberus: 3.6/5

* * *

Name: 'Grunt'

Other alias: N/A

'Grunt' is the name of a genetically perfect Krogan, he is incredibly dangerous in combat, being able to regenerate faster then most Krogan, he is armed with a powerful Claymore heavy shotgun and is incredibly deadly at close range. Counter him with high numbers and high power sniper rifles at long range.

He does not seem to make many tactically sound decisions though, and will charge head on into a battle without prior planning, so plan for unpredictable rushing.

Threat level: 4/5

Threat level to Cerberus: 1.4/5

* * *

Name: Jack

Other alias: Subject Zero

An escaped subject of a Cerberus project gone deadly wrong, Jack has more biotic power then some Asari Justicars, and she has some of the most advanced and experimental amps ever made, she is deadly at close and medium range, and her shockwave is particularly devastating. Counter her with very large numbers, and with high power shields.

Threat level: 3.8/5

Threat level to Cerberus: 3.4/5

* * *

Name: Miranda Lawson

Other alias: N/A

Miranda Lawson is a nearly perfect human, she's been genetically engineered to heal faster, keep her alive longer, increase her power with biotics, and to look aesthetically pleasing. She is a very accurate shot and can back it up with biotic support if need be. She is a former high ranking member of your organization, but I'm sure you already know that. She is very hard to engage at any distance, keeping her in cover is the best way to suppress her.

Threat level: 4.0/5

Threat level to Cerberus: 4.5/5

* * *

Name: Garrus Vakarian

Other alias: Archangel

An expert sniper and good hacker, Garrus Vakarian is extremely deadly at long range, he managed to hold off three merc groups alone and managed to stay alive for several hours, he is quite possibly the best sniper, second to none in terms of accuracy. He is also fairly versatile in tech powers, being able to wield the same powers that a standard grade Alliance Infiltrator would know. Engage at very close range and in large numbers, never engage at long range.

Threat level: 4.4/5

Threat level to Cerberus: 3.2/5

* * *

Name: Thane Krios

Other alias: N/A

Thane Krios is a experienced assassin, with dozens of assassinations, he is almost as deadly as Garrus with a sniper rifle, but also has powerful biotics. He is a very accurate shot at all ranges, and his biotics help him deal with armored opponents. Counter him with high numbers and agile opponents.

Threat level: 3.75/5

Threat level to Cerberus: 3.0/5

* * *

Name: Samara (last name unknown)

Other alias: N/A

Samara is an asari Justicar who is very potent in the way of biotics. Although she is weaker than Jack, she is much more tactical in terms of fighting, using more technique and less of the pure power that Jack has. She is moderately good with firearms, but her main strength is her ruthless efficiency with biotics. Counter with agile opponents and close range pressure

Threat level: 3.7/5

Threat level to Cerberus: 3.5/5

* * *

Name: Kasumi Goto

Other alias: N/A

The Illusive thief, Kasumi Goto is a very tactical opponent on the battlefield, she is very deadly because of her cloak, which allows her to flank almost all of her enemies, not much else about her is known, even less is known about her combat capability. Counter her with close range weapons.

Threat level: 3.65/5

Threat level to Cerberus 2/5

* * *

Name: Jacob Taylor

Other alias: N/A

Former Cerberus operative, Jacob is a good marksman and a good biotic, his efficiency with both guns and biotics makes him a very versatile combatant on the battlefield. Former Cerberus and former Alliance operative. He is very difficult to counter due to how balanced his loadout is.

Threat level: 3.7/5

Threat level to Cerberus: 4/5

* * *

Name: Mordin Solus

Other alias: N/A

Mordin is has several tech powers which make him a force to be reckoned with on the battlefield. He is a very accurate shot, preferring to get headshots over body shots and is very agile, preferring to dodge bullets all together instead of packing strong shields. He is a very slippery combatant on the field. Counter with high numbers and high pressure.

Beware of his tech powers such as incinerate and Neural Shock

Threat level: 3.6/5

Threat level to Cerberus: 3/5

* * *

Name: Unknown

Other alias: Ghost

Very little is known about Ghost. I haven't been able to find out his name at all yet, he is a very deadly combatant on the battlefield, his cloak is almost as powerful as Kasumi's and he has much more weapons than she does. Not much else is known about him, I don't know how to counter him as most of his arsenal is unknown, the only other thing I know of is that he is an incredibly powerful hacker, being even better than Tali, I don't know what weapons he'll be packing, I don't know how to counter him.

Threat level: Unknown

Threat level to Cerberus: Unknown

* * *

Name: Zaeed Massani

Other alias: N/A

Zaeed is the most dangerous operative in Shepard's team, beaten out by only Shepard himself in terms of combat abilities. He is a better shot then everyone besides Garrus, and has much more guns then almost everyone else, again beaten by Shepard. He is very knowledgeable of combat and tends to take up positions where he has the advantage. Counter him with biotics and extremely high numbers.

Threat level: 4.5/5

Threat level to Cerberus: 3/5

* * *

Name: John Shepard

Other alias: Commander Shepard

Shepard is more deadly than all of the operatives mentioned above, his skill is second to none, he may even be a better shot then Garrus, and has more guns to back it up. He has weapon training with every single gun class available, this makes him versatile in any situation, and he is extremely knowledgeable of combat and always takes up positions where he has the advantage. He is impossible to counter, never engage him conventionally. He has powerful weapons and abilities, and noted leadership capabilities, but I'm sure you already know that.

Threat level: 5/5

Threat level to Cerberus: 4.6/5

* * *

The Illusive man looked at this, and pondered. Analyzing it, seeing what he could do and what he couldn't do, this is the quality that had made him a billionaire, the ability to assimilate information faster then most people got him in a lot of favorable situations, he always held all the cards, it's what made his organization thrive.

He looked at the list for several moments, thinking of who might present the greatest threat to him, and to his organization at large. After about 15 minutes he made his decision.

"I need Miranda Lawson and Ghost taken out, use any means necessary, lethal force is now authorized."

The person on the other end responded malevolently. "As you wish."

Unknown to either of them, someone else was listening in.

...

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Tom sighed. This was getting annoying. He had just infiltrated the network of the Mars archives and it actually had decent firewalls, which meant he actually had to compensate for the virus to get into the system, it was by no means difficult, just an annoyance. He had limited time before Cerberus tracked him down.

He just had to insert himself as a security guard, and get on his shuttle that would get him to Mars. The one thing that was on grinding away on his nerves was that he didn't know how long he had before he was found, which was why he had everything already packed and a plan to erase all the data on his computer.

"Finally!" He shouted to no one in particular. He just cracked the encryption on the personnel list, it only took a bit of typing to make himself a cover story, he hoped it wasn't too suspicious. He made sure to add that he was in the process of transferring to the site as a security guard.

He proceed to equip the rest of his combat gear, which was sitting on a chair nearby. He was about to put on his helmet but then he felt the sudden urge to sneeze.

"Ac...CHO-" It was interrupted as a bullet which went right through a wall passed right next to him. He would've laughed at the fact of being saved by a sneeze if he wasn't being hunted at the time. He instantly grabbed his helmet and bag before diving through the door to his room.

"Screw my life, he had to choose NOW to try and assassinate me, fuck." Tom muttered to himself before running out the back door and running through his neighbor's yard, and then activating his cloak.

Tom quickly made his way to the rendezvous point where his shuttle was waiting for him.

"Please enter the pass code." A VI said.

Tom hastily entered the code, 1343457.

"Welcome aboard, we are departing in 5 hours, 41 minutes, 6 seconds and counting."

"Initiate protocol 'Only use this when someone is trying to assassinate you' please."

"Initiating protocol, purging data banks, starting shuttle."

Tom sat in the pilot seat and sighed in relief, he was lucky to be alive, if he hadn't sneezed he would've died, that widow round would've penetrated his skull and killed him saved by a sneeze was something he should add to his list of 'things I did before I died by mechanical space cuttlefish' he could almost hear himself writing it down now.

He knew Cerberus was coming for him, he just didn't expect it to come then, at least they didn't get a visual then, they were probably using a powerful thermal scope just to see right through a wall, the assassin had probably invested in armor piercing rounds too. That's how he knew it was Cerberus, he doubted any other group would have those kind of creds and be interested in killing him.

They failed though, they should've come earlier in the morning, or had taken the shot while he was at his desk, no matter. He didn't care about it now, he just had to make sure that Doctor Eva Core didn't instantly shoot him on sight. He hoped that she would at least restrain itself because of the whole 'stay undercover, no matter the cost' rule.

Tom grinned when he was alerted to someone else accessing his computer, a rookie mistake to be sure. He put on his helmet and activated the face cam on his shuttle.

It was Leng's stupid face that was on the other end of the line.

"Hello Leng, I believe that's far enough." Investing in that voice synthesizer was definitely a good investment.

"Hello, why don't you come out and fight me like a man?"

"A feisty one! I could laugh at that, I prefer doing this over a monitor, like your boss TIM, if he does, then why don't I? And I can too, and I'd rather keep my life thank you very much."

"You're arrogant." The fact that Leng was talking to me was his downfall, as I had snuck a virus onto my computer, and I activated it at that moment, which bypassed right through Leng's firewalls, and onto his Ocular implants. He didn't feel anything, but I had access to what he had seen in the past, everything. It also acted as a trace, this was a big mistake for him.

"This exchange is over, that weak trace you think you have has just been cut, good bye Leng, say hi to Jack Harper for me." I cut the connection.

All I had to do now was get out of my armor and equip the Alliance fatigues that I had stolen from an Alliance base, I'm sure they wouldn't mind. Now all I had to do was wait until my shuttle landed.

 _One week until The Reapers invade_

Tom wiped a bit of sweat from his brow. That VI had been much harder than he had thought to code. He was just finishing up the last couple bugs that he had ironed out in the last week. "Glad this thing is finally done."

"How long has it taken you to get that VI working?" Adam asked, one of my co-workers in security.

"It feels like years, but I've gotten the dang thing working now, I hope there isn't any more bugs I have to fix, I've been working on this for the past two months."

"Well it all pays off in the end doesn't it?"

"It sure does, I-"

"Pearce, you're break is over, I need you to secure the transfer of a new arrival!" Tom's boss shouted. Smith Pearce was his cover name.

"I'll be right there!" Tom shouted. "Well, duty calls, see you later." Adam grinned.

"So who is this new arrival?" Tom asked.

"Her name is Doctor Eva Core, you ready?"

"Let me just grab my gear." I cringed when I heard that name. I guess now's the time everything get's set in motion, I'm just glad I'm ready for it.

The End


End file.
